world's your oyster when your wine sells well

 The corks have been popping at NZX-listed Delegat's Wine Estate with the news that the company's flagship Oyster Bay sauvignon blanc is now the biggest-selling white wine in Australia by both volume and value.

Retail sales data released by A C Nielsen last week shows that Oyster Bay outsells any other white in the Australian market, even the country's local brands.

The news may leave Aussie winemakers asking for a fair suck of the savvy but Delegat's managing director Jim Delegat said the company's number one spot in the white wine market across the Tasman capped a period of strong growth for the company. Oyster Bay is now exported to 30 countries.

The latest milestone also showed that this country's winemakers had taken ownership of the sauvignon blanc wine category in international markets, he said. But he was also confident of growing Delegat's sales of other wine varieties in Australia.

The same A C Nielsen figures also revealed that Oyster Bay is the second most popular pinot noir in Australia while its chardonnay is one of the 20 biggest sellers in the white wine market.