Chamarré
set for US launch
August 4,
2006
Adam Lechmere
Chamarré, the brand which is trying
to revolutionise the image of French wine in the UK, is now set
to launch in the US.
The wine, the child of start-up company
OVS, consists of three lines. The Reserves are varietal blends
– Merlot, Cabernet, Shiraz and Grenache, for example –
from different regions of France. Then there is an AOC Bordeaux
and Jurancon, and a line of blends of two varietals: a Cabernet-Grenache,
a Shiraz-Merlot, Chardonnay-Sauvignon and so on.
Chamarré has a bold future mapped
out for it. UK export director Vincent Norguet said he was confident
sales will hit 1.5m bottles in the UK in 2006. 'And we would expect
1m cases by 2010,' he added. The wine is also in two French hypermarkets,
Leclerc and Monoprix
And in October Chamarré hits the
US. Most of the wines will stay the same, though there will be
significant changes to part of the range.
The Chardonnay will spend six months
in oak in order to achieve a 'fatter, more buttery texture,' Hubert
Surville, president of OWS, the American arm of the company, said.
'American wine consumers expect Chardonnay to be aged in oak,'
he told decanter.com.
There will also be an entirely new range,
the Grand Reserve, based on varietals. 'As we know, the US is
driven more by varietals than by blends,' Surville said.
He will be offering a Chardonnay, a Pinot
Noir and a Cabernet Sauvignon. These are vertical blends: the
grapes will be sourced from all over France.
The Chardonnay comes from Meursault,
Pouilly Fuissé, Chablis, Macon and the south of France,
the Pinot from a similar range of Burgundian appellations as well
as the Ardeche and Corsica, and the Cabernet from St Estephe,
St Julien, St Emilion and the south of France.
Adding grapes from the south gives the
wine 'more fruit and more supple tannins,' Surville says.
The wines will be launched in October
or November in about seven states, at around US$11.99-12.99 (€9-10).
Surville expects to sell some 500,000
cases in 2007, rising to 1m in 2008.
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