UK first for Jacob’s Creek in Three Vines launch

The Jacob’s Creek Three Vines range will carry a £6.99 recommended retail price ticket, allowing the wines to be promoted at £4.99 at key times of the year.

Total sales of the Australian branded wine were pretty flat in the last six months of 2006, reflecting a UK wine market that showed little or no growth. The brand, however, did see an upturn in Christmas off-trade sales at a time when some branded wines experienced big sales losses.

The Jacob’s Creek Three Vines range

comprises blends of Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc/Viognier, Shiraz/Grenache/Sangiovese rosé and Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon/Tempranillo. The wines will be priced at a premium to the core Jacob’s Creek range (£5.49 to £5.99), but below the Jacob’s Creek Reserve wines (£7.99).

The range is being launched exclusively in the UK, for the time being at least. “It’s the first time we have launched a range of wines that haven’t been tested in Australia,” said chief winemaker Phil Laffer.

A point of difference on Three Vines is the lower alcoholic content of the three wines, with the white coming in at 11.5% alcohol-by-volume, the rosé at just under 12% and the red at 13.5%. Pernod Ricard UK expects the Three Vines range will be on supermarket shelves by May.