Gale offers more of a plum choice

Hampshire brewer George Gale & Co has added three new flavours to its traditional range of Old Country Wines. Cranberry, Apple and Plum have been added to the 21 existing varieties of the wine, which are sold in the brewery's 100-strong pub estate in the south, as well as a wide range of other pubs and bars throughout the country. Although the wines have suffered from the boom in ready-to-drinks, they still maintain a faithful following, says Gales head of marketing Derek Beaves. "They have a good following all over the country," he said. "A lot of pubs do them by the glass, or they can be drunk as a summer spritzer. The strawberry flavour is probably the most popular." The 14.5% abv wines are made using a traditional recipe, followed since the early part of last century, and are comprised of ingredients grown mainly in the English countryside. The fruit is steeped or blended with grape juice and the wine is then left to mature for varying amounts of time. Some other existing flavours include Cowslip, Rhubarb, Damson and Elderberry.