Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc becomes number one selling bottled white wine by value in Australia

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Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc has become the number one selling bottled white wine across Australia by value; a first for a New Zealand product to lead Australian wine sales lists.

Owned by Delegat’s Wine Estate, New Zealand’s third largest winemaker, Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc’s top market position was recently announced by AC Nielsen in Australia.

AC Nielsen senior manager Matthew Knight says, “The growing demand for sauvignon blanc in Australia reflects a significant trend towards lighter wine styles and that the sauvignon blanc segment of the market is still very much owned by New Zealand.”

Commenting on Oyster Bay’s success in Australia, Jim Delegat, Delegat’s Wine Estate Managing Director says, “New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc complements Australia’s own white wine styles and our Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc epitomises this style of wine which Australian wine consumers are seeking out more and more.

“We employed our first Australian Oyster Bay employee in New South Wales four years ago and now we have more than 28 people across our Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne offices so we are obviously very pleased about the brand’s strong performance in a relatively short period. Our strategy is to establish Oyster Bay as one of the world’s leading Super Premium wine brands and this latest announcement by AC Nielsen shows we are well on track to achieve what we set out to do,” he says.

In the lead up to Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc becoming the top selling white wine by value, Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc was also voted ‘Premium White Wine of the Year’ by the Australian Liquor Industry Awards (ALIA) in both 2005 and 2006. The ALIA awards represent the premier liquor industry awards with votes received from the liquor trade and finalists selected using AC Nielsen performance data.

Philip Gregan, Chief Executive Officer of New Zealand Winegrowers says “New Zealand wine exports to Australia have increased by a staggering 50 per cent in the past year alone and production of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is getting higher and higher each year in response to global demand.”

Delegat’s Wine Estate is listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange and remains majority-owned by the Delegat family. Today it exports its Super Premium Oyster Bay brand to more than 30 countries.