Treasury targets top end with fine wine unit

Treasury Wine Estates has set up a fine wine business unit to better showcase its wines in the £15 plus category.

The new three-strong fine wine team, headed up by Ranulf Sessions formerly of Constellation and Gruppo Italiano Vini, already has 65 accounts across independent, on-trade, luxury department stores and multiple specialists, and plans to double up within one year.

There will be around 200 wines on offer to UK customers, including flagship brand Penfolds, and smaller regional wineries such as Baileys and Saltram, around 80% of which were not previously stocked here or have been absent for a long period.

“The fine wine team has been brought together to concentrate on the top end of the Treasury Wine Estates portfolio which hasn’t previously been developed," said Sessions.

He added: "Dealing at the top end of the market we recognise there is a need to act differently to other parts of the TWE business. It’s about being flexible, hand-selling and understanding the market and its needs.

"We recognise that some of our customers will only purchase one case, whereas others will deal in much larger quantities, we’re flexible enough to meet their needs.”

Neilsen figures to the end of October 2011 show consumer demand for wines in the £10+ price point is up 24% year on year, with Australian wine priced over £10, the fastest growing, up 61%.