Rueda renews investment in UK market following booming sales

The #TasteRueda campaign is set to kick off next month for the sixth year running, following a boom in UK market sales.

The #TasteRueda campaign is back, supporting on- and off-trade sales of DO Rueda wines.

The campaign will hit wine shops and on-trade venues nationwide from September 2022 to April 2023, and is designed to promote the diversity of the region’s wines.

Rueda is Spain’s most important region for white wines, with over 87% of the wines made in the region produced from the native Verdejo grape.

Young, fresh, unoaked wines are the most popular wines in Spain, which represents around 85% of the market for the DO.

The UK is an important market for the DO Rueda. The new campaign will concentrate on off-trade retail, press and sommelier education over the next year.

Stores and restaurants looking to participate are eligible to apply for a £1,000 bursary to support and set up the promotion.

Santiago Mora, director of the DO Rueda, said of the campaign: “Our wineries are encouraged by the uplift in interest in wines from DO Rueda in the UK market in recent years. This has prompted us to build our campaign investment in the UK this year and expand to include consumer activation and retail/on-trade support.”

Like many winegrowing regions across Europe, Rueda reported an early harvest this year, brought about by the extreme heat experienced this summer.

Spanish winery Caserío de Dueñas, located in the Rueda DO, kicked off its earliest harvest in history on 16 August this year, warning that the effects of global warming will continue to see harvest dates creep forward.

Caserío de Dueñas is owned by Entrecanales Domecq e Hijos and led by Spain’s only female Master of Wine Almudena Alberca. It was the first within the region to begin picking, and remains the only winery to have started harvesting grapes, the DO told db last month.