Gallo turns up heat on summer rosé

Could rosé sales ever overtake white or red? That was the question being posed by Gallo, owner of the UK's leading rosé brand, as it announced a £2.5 million investment behind the pink stuff for this summer.

Rosé has had phenomenal growth, more than 20 per cent a year for the past five years, and now has around a 10 per cent share of the wine market, compared to 46.5 per cent for white and 43.5 per cent for red (Nielsen, off-trade). Its growth is forecast to be long term and it was sustained during one of the wettest summers on record last year .

Gallo, which has the number one brand White Grenache, will spend £2.5 million on rosé this year , including promoting it to be drunk over ice, sponsor ing Gordon Ramsay's The F Word and a handbag-shaped bag-in-box format.

George Marsden, general manager for Europe, said: " There is still tremendous potential for rosé. In the UK, it is a vehicle to bring new consumers into the category. It has a flavour and taste profile that people really like . Will it overtake red or white? Anything's possible."

Gallo also plans to relaunch McWilliams and bring its Barefoot label, the fastest growing brand in the US, to Britain.