Tesco buyers have been working for almost a year to bring what Jago described as a “depth of choice” to every store. “The key word is diversity,” he said, “but the promotions will be as strong as ever.”
New additions to the offering range from the value-for-money Gran Tesoro red, rosé and white Spanish wines (£2.99) to the 2005 Guigal Condrieu white Rhône (£24.99) and the 2004 Château Lagrange Saint Julien (£28.99). Tesco is also looking to meet the small but growing demand for lower alcohol wines by introducing the 9% alcohol- by-volume Van Loveren Light White from South Africa (£3.99) and the Plume range of lower strength white, rosé and red wines (£5.99) from the Languedoc.
Rosé continues to be the boom area of the take-home wine market and Tesco is doubling its offering to 63 wines, including the 2007 Montana Reserve rosé (£7.99) from New Zealand and the Tagus Creek Shiraz and Touriga Nacional rosé (£4.99) from Portugal.
Jago said the extended range – the widest in the UK – would allow every Tesco, regardless of size, to double the number of rosés on sale. The number of organic and Fairtrade wines in Tesco is also being doubled, to 21 and 10 wines respectively.
Tesco claims its customers have “increasingly sophisticated and demanding wine tastes” and as a result it has been looking closely at its £6.99-plus range, which is being increased by 200 new wines in the category review. Among the new premium wines is the 2005 Cisplatino Tannat Merlot (£7.99) from Uruguay, available in 344 stores.
Jago said Tesco was aiming to be “everyone’s wine merchant”. “Whatever your preference, you will manage to find the wine in Tesco,” he said.
SOURCE: Checkout August 2007
