Three new organic wines are being added to the Vina Albali wine range, starting with the 2016 vintage. It will comprise a white Verdejo, a red and rosé Tempranillo, which will be pitched at the £5-6 price bracket in the UK off-trade.

Félix Solís UK’s Richard Cochrane said the move was particularly suitable for the company’s Spanish vineyards, which were not susceptible to the dump that affected other wine-growing regions in Europe.

“Spain’s vineyards have more in common with Argentina’s high altitude viticulture than much of the rest of Europe. With an average altitude over 600m and significant vineyards area well away from damp maritime influences, Spain has been growing low intervention vineyards which minimize the need for chemical sprays and pesticides,” he said.

The group is also adding two new sparkling wines to its leading Vina Albali brand. The Brut NV and Rosado Sec wines are being produced using the Charmat method, and come on the back of the company’s Prospero and Provetto wines. They will retail at around £6-7 in the off-trade.

Provetto was launched in 2015 following a €30 million investment in the company’s Valdepenas winery which put the necessary technology for producing sparkling wine – both using carbonation and the Charmat (tank) method – in place. Prospero was launched in the UK last May to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death and is listed by Morrisons.

The new wines will be on show at this year’s London Wine Fair, along with new Chilean wines, its top range La Piqueta (meaning ‘pick ax’ in Spanish, reflecting its explorer’ branding) and the guv’nor.

The Spanish wine company announced it was expanding into Chile four years ago, in a bid to take advantage of the increased demand for Chilean wines in Europe and Asia as well as by the increasing demand for Chilean bulk wine in China where Félix Solís has a bottling company and an import and distribution company.

Read more at source: The Drinks Business