Great value down under
Consumers can take advantage of some great-quality Australian wine at very reasonable prices right now as a result of companies being able to buy grapes cheaper than they could a couple of years ago. Partly because of the Oz wine glut, companies are able to get hold of fruit from premium regions to produce mid-priced wines, according to David Gleave, Managing Director at Liberty Wines. In Liberty’s case, these include Redfin and Longboard, two ranges made as a result of collaborations between the company and Steve Pannell, former group winemaker at Hardys. David Gleave told ThirtyFifty that, ‘Grape prices of certain varieties have fallen quite dramatically in recent years, so we work with Steve to pick up parcels of good fruit from premium regions.’ Guy Wilkes, Sales Director at Negociants UK, agrees that there are strong deals in the market, but says that, ‘Much of the overproduction is being dealt with through very competitive prices being offered for own-label and non-branded labels.’ And while some brand owners are dealing with decreased grape prices by offering stronger promotional deals, he told ThirtyFifty that, ‘Other producers, like Yalumba, take advantage of any oversupply by producing better quality wine at the same price.’