Quirky label gets revamp

By SIMON HENDERY


Montana has taken a quirky local wine label no longer sold in New Zealand and revamped it as an "international brand" featuring wines from three countries.

Azure Bay, which comes in a distinctive blue bottle, will enter the US market this month.

The range will feature wine "sourced from the world's renowned wine producing regions" - a sauvignon blanc/semillon blend from New Zealand's East Coast, chardonnay and shiraz from Australia and cabernet sauvignon from California.

Montana managing director Peter Hubscher said the Azure Bay initiative was an example of the type of innovative marketing the New Zealand wine industry needed to embrace.

Another example of innovation was Lindauer Fraise, a strawberry-infused sparkling wine which, after only a year in the market, was selling as strongly in the Australian market as traditional Lindauer.

Fraise was also being trialled by Britain's biggest supermarket group and largest wine retailer, Tesco, and Montana has high hopes for its success in the UK market.