NZ wine the tipple of choice in Britain

Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc is proving popular in the UK. Photo / Greg Bowker

New Zealand's Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc was the best-selling wine at Britain's Majestic Wine chain over the Christmas season, the warehouse retailer says.

Majestic Wine uncorked its best festive sales for a decade yesterday, toasting sparkling sales of champagne and upmarket fine wine, as customers shrugged off the economic downturn.

Chief executive of Majestic, Steve Lewis, said he had been encouraged by the response to the change in its minimum purchase policy from 12 bottles of wine to six. He said existing customers were shopping more frequently.

For the nine weeks to January 4, the 153-store chain's underlying sales were up by 11.7 per cent. This was its best sales for more than two years.

The festive boom at Majestic, which does not operate on the high street, is in stark contrast to First Quench Retailing, the 1200-store off-licence group that collapsed into administration in October.

Lewis said: "Christmas got off to a good start and it just kept going." Majestic said sales of champagne were up by 11 per cent, sales of fine wine were higher by 30 per cent and online grew by 17 per cent.

Sales to businesses have also rebounded, but this was driven by companies holding their own Christmas parties rather than corporate gifting.

Across the business, the retailer's most popular champagne was Veuve Clicquot and its best-selling wine was the Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc.

Lewis said its busiest day was the Saturday before Christmas, and that it had received a boost from the snow and icy conditions before December 25, as many people stopped working and went into "Christmas mode".

But Lewis has forecast a challenging year for the sector and the wider economy.

"It is going to be very tough for the next 12 months and we have set up the business on this basis."

- INDEPENDENT