Virgin Wines predicts top Christmas tipples

Grower champagnes, Aussie reds and German wines are set for a bumper year online, according to online wine retailer Virgin Wines.

Virgin Wines head wine buyer Andrew Baker said there the online retailer has seen growing interest in grower champagne, which had been enjoying a boost over the last year, particularly at consumers events, and was being tipped as one the consumer choices for 2016.

“They represent great value next to the Grand Marques, are genuinely interesting stylistically and for people looking to take a step up from Prosecco, they provide an exciting route,” Baker said.

One of the reasons for the growing interest in grower Champagne can be found in the trend for everyday bubbles, which has seen sparkler such as  Prosecco increasingly drunk on an everyday drink, rather than being reserved for special occasions. As a result, consumers are looking at other sparkling wines to trade up, which can bridge the gap and offer good value as people look to push the boat out more, without cannibalising Prosecco’s sales.

“People’s love for Prosecco is not going away anytime soon,” Baker admitted, pointing to record-breaking sales of the Italian fizz in November which boosted figures ahead of the onset of the largest month for booze sales. Virgin Wines had already sold 38,000 more bottles by the end of November than it had across the whole of 2015, Baker confirmed.

“With our biggest month still to go we are expecting to see another 60,000 bottles sold,” he said.

The online retailer is also tipping regional Australian red wines in the £15-20 bracket for Christmas 2016, reflecting the increasing number of consumers trading up tp boutique Australian red wines and choosing them over more traditional Christmas wines in the Old World.

“Consumers will always look to Australia for good quality every day reds and this is a category we put a lot of focus
on, however we are seeing a real trend for people trading up in
this area too,” he said. “There are some superb, boutique Aussie reds in the £15-£20 category and people are definitely looking here when the occasion calls, perhaps over traditional old world regions where they would have previously bought from.”

German wines have also risen 118%, he said, driven by the growth of more modern styles that fit into the consumer trend for “clean and fresh styles”.

The retailer has also seen strong growth in its gifting business, doubling its forecast for Christmas and on track to hit the £1 million barrier in sales over the eight weeks festive period.

Virgin CEO Jay Wright said he couldn’t believe how far the gift company had come since launching in three years, but there was more work to be done. “We still don’t feel that we have unleashed the full potential of Sendagift.co.uk and we are expecting the business to continue to grow rapidly over the coming few years,” he said.