Wine Focus: Taking a new direction

In man ways the Australians are the ones responsible for making the French look foolish.

I'm talking about wine of course. For so long the be all and end all of the wine trade, the French went about their business without fear of any producing country challenging their dominance.

And then came those pesky Australians, with that confident swagger familiar to all England cricket fans. And not only did they try and take on the French in the wine trade but in many people's eyes they outdid them. New World invasion

They made wine easier to understand for the consumer - where French wine was clouded in confusion, something only the experts could decipher, Australian wines were marketed in a clear and simple fashion - in the main by grape variety.

And as a result it cleaned up in the UK - consumers loved it. And so began the New World invasion - New Zealand, South Africa and Chile all taking increasing market share from the Old World producers.

But now the all-conquering Australians are facing a problem. The country is in the middle of a horrific drought - one that some commentators believe to be the worst in the country's recorded history. And it is having a massive impact on the grape harvest, which is in turn impacting on the market in the UK, with retailers facing major price hikes for Aussie wines.

Anthony Rixon, national account manager pubs and leisure at Bibendum, says the drought will have such an impact that we should look to other New World countries improving their market share.

He sees South Africa and Argentina in particular as potential growth material. However, while others suggest Chile, Rixon believes Chile is facing some problems of its own.

"Chile will have done OK for the first part of this year. But there will be upward price pressure in the near future due to the weak US dollar versus the strong Chilean peso; Chile experiencing its worst drought in many years; high inflation and the bulk volume purchase by some of the "big brands" to both force prices up and improve their own margins," he explains.

Rixon's comments are indicative of how licensees now need to approach the New World - they need to stay on top of current trends and changes in the market. Hopefully, this focus will give the insight they need to continue to do this.