Attempts to woo UK wine drinkers

Australia faces a battle to woo UK wine drinkers back from traditional love rival France and a host of New World lotharios.

Revered wine critic Jancis Robinson said a tiff between Australian wines and British consumers had yet to be mended.

"Only a few of us are waving the flag for Australia's delicious hand-crafted wines," Ms Robinson said.

"France is having a resurgence and Italy and Spain are increasingly admired by the cognoscenti, though California is fast catching up on Australia in the cheap brands department."

Australia is largely associated with cheap wine in the UK amid heavy discounting in supermarkets.

The average British wine drinker has become conditioned to buy whatever is on promotion and, in this area, there is tough competition from producers who have learnt from Australia and caught up.

Australian wine shares shelf space with New World rivals South Africa, Chile and the US, to name just a few, as well as offerings from traditional or Old World producers France and Germany.

Dan Jago, category director for beers, wines and spirits with UK supermarket giant Tesco, said the challenge for Australian wine brands was to push beyond the STG5 ($8.99) per bottle market.

"Ultimately where Australia works really well for us is in terms of high quality for a very fair price," he said.

"Australia has set its stall out over the last 10 years to be a volume producer.

"How do you take Australia to be more premium? My view is Australia can do that and it can be as successful in the premium category as it is at the entry level as long as it does it correctly."

By correctly, he means not sacrificing existing customers in pursuit of a more upmarket consumer profile.

Ms Robinson has urged Australian producers to "increase the quality of the cheapest wines and come and promote the rest, face to face".

It is the sort of charm offensive common during the export push of the 1980s, sparking Britain's love affair with Australian wine, which has since cooled.

Ms Robinson recalls Australian winemakers on "frequent visits to Britain (even in the middle of their summer and our winter, for heaven's sake)".

"A steady stream of characterful larrikins invaded our shores, shared beers and gossip with key players, and achieved enviable penetration of the mass market," she wrote on www.JancisRobinson.com in April.

Now it's a case of easier said than done.

Australia's strong dollar, drought and massive oversupply combined with deep recession in Britain are hammering the industry.

The dollar's strength and increased production costs make Australian wine more expensive in Britain at a time when consumers are reluctant to spend.

There is also the issue of the changing "fashions" in wine, as Ms Robinson puts it.

Out of vogue is the big, buttery, oak-fuelled Chardonnay and gutsy, high-alcohol Shiraz in favour of lighter, more crisp styles.

McGuigan Wines, led by chief winemaker Neil McGuigan, recently collected three awards at London's International Wine and Spirit Competition - Winemaker of the Year, Australian Producer of the Year and the Jancis Robinson Trophy for Riesling.

Neil McGuigan said crafting wines to be more elegant was crucial.

"We've got everything going against us," he said.

"What will, at the end of the day, make us come through is quality and appropriate style for the consumer. That's what we must focus on."

Mr McGuigan believes it will take "half a generation" for Australia to establish itself as a major player against Europe in the super-premium bracket.

And making outstanding quality wines at appropriate prices will be the catalyst.

"The British consumer does enjoy Australian wine; the British consumer sees it as very good value," Mr McGuigan said.

"Unfortunately they don't see it as super-premium, however, that's up to us as an industry to evolve that."

Winning international awards can also help.

"We have to focus on getting people loving Australia and being important in the marketplace as Australian wine first," Mr McGuigan said.

"As time goes on, those super-premium regions and all the wines that we're winning these awards with, they're the wines that will come into those upmarket restaurants and the specialist wine liquor stores."

Paul Schaafsma, general manager UK and Europe for Australian Vintage, which owns McGuigan Wines, agrees it is imperative to make wines relevant to UK consumers.

"If there's an arrogance from companies: 'No, no we'll just put the price up and the consumer will have to wear it,' volumes will decline because the UK consumer is trained to price points whether we like it or not," Mr Schaafsma said.

"For us now it's all about efficiencies. We have to ensure we're producing an appropriate drink, but we're producing it efficiently and we are able to compete.

"So there's never been more challenges on production ... we need to ride this out but we have to be smart about it."

Shipping wine in bulk and packaging it in Britain is one way of reducing production costs, tax and carbon footprints.

Mr Schaafsma does see light at the end of the tunnel.

"If the wineries are just sold to other companies or new companies come in and undercut prices and continue the discounting trend that's gone on, that's not the solution," he said.

"If there's some consolidation that occurs, and those sites are managed properly, then I think the Australian wine industry will be in a much healthier state."