Riesling for I Heart wine range

The I Heart wine range is being bolstered with a Riesling as the brand continues towards a global sales target of 20m bottles by 2020.

The I Heart Wine range now contains a Riesling

The new wine was first shown to buyers at this month’s ProWein by the Henkell Group, which took a 60% stake in I Heart’s creator, UK distributor Copestick Murray, in August 2013.

The I Heart Riesling has a 12% abv and has been made in a dry style using grapes from the Rheinhessen and Pfalz, and will be priced at the same level as other still wines in the range, which include a Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot and Shiraz, among others.

The additional wine has been launched by Henkell for the German market, although it will also be brought into the UK, according to the company’s CEO, Andreas Brokemper.

Brokemper also told the drinks business that Henkell’s target for I Heart is 1m cases, which he believes can be reached by 2020.

Looking back to 2015, he said, “Last year was successful for I Heart, we grew by over 50% to sell 8m bottles, and the year before that, we grew at the same rate.”

He ascribed the rapid rate of increase to rising demand in the UK and “the internationalisation of I Heart”, especially the “very successful move into China for I Heart with the addition of small bottles”.

Helping I Heart’s sales in China this year was the introduction of I Heart Monkey to capitalise on 2016, which is the Year of the Monkey in the Chinese Zodiac.

The wine was sold as part of a Golden Monkey 6-pack containing a 75cl bottle of I Heart Merlot with a monkey on the label and five 18.7cl bottles, including a Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Shiraz and Zinfandel rosé.

Further boosting sales has been the addition of I Heart Prosecco and Cava, which Brokemper described as “growth drivers”.

Speaking generally about the brand, which Henkell acquired over two years ago, Brokemper commented, “We love the concept: it is so easy to understand, it is wine 2.0, with a taste profile consumers’ want.”

Whether I Heart is sold in Germany or China, the branding is the same, and the descriptions are all in English.