‘No wine wank’ for The Guv’nor

Spanish wine company Félix Solís is “trying to stir things up” in the UK wine market by launching a sweet red blend with “no wine wank”.

Called The Guv’nor, the wine has a front label featuring only the brand name, written as though it was stamped on the paper by a typewriter.

“There is no vintage, no DO [Denominación de Origen], it just says ‘vino’ – there is no wine wank,” explained Richard Cochrane, managing director at Félix Solís UK, when discussing the new product with the drinks business.

The wine for The Guv’nor comes from a range of Spanish regions, including Toro, La Mancha and Valdepeñas, with “an oak component” and 18 grams per litre of residual sugar, according to Cochrane, who added that the level of sweetness was similar to Gallo’s highly successful Apothic red blend from California.

Although The Guv’nor is being launched in the UK, and was first shown to the trade at the London Wine Fair earlier this month, it is a “global brand” said Cochrane.

With a recommended retail price of “around £7” and “£22 in a pub” The Guv’nor has “already attracted interest from both the on- and the off-trade,” explained Cochrane, during an interview with db at the exhibition.

Commenting on the launch, he said, “We are trying to stir things up, and you have to innovate and think about the consumer so the retailer and the pub operator feel like they have a solution that will work in this challenging market.”

Although the wine has 18g/l of sugar, it is not being sold as sweet. “It is marketed as a red blend, not a sweet red,” he said.

He also stated his belief that this style of wine, which is a US$500 million category in the US, has great potential in the UK.

“Most of the wine category is pretty dry and most of the drinkers aren’t… just look at the success of soft drinks; I think the blends could do well in the UK.

“It just that the dear old wine industry is hell bent on doing everything dry.”

Finally, Cochrane told db that he was considering adding a white wine or rosé with a similar appearance, which he would call The Guv’ness.

Earlier this year, French wine brand Lamothe Parrot added a new label to capitalise on the growing demand for sweet red blends in the US.

Called Scarlett Dark, the wine has been created to compete with fast-growing sweet red blends such as Gallo’s Apothic, Trinchero’s Ménage à Trois and the Cupcake Red Velvet, which together account for over half of the $500m sector in the US.