The phenomenally successful Yellow Tail brand is about to expand with a high-end wine for the Australian market.
The AUS$45 (€26) Cabernet Sauvignon will be sold early next year under the Yellow Tail label.
Standard Yellow Tail sells in Australia for around AUS$10, and in the UK for around £4.99.
The maker, Casella Wines, said only about 1700 cases are planned. ‘It’s not going to be a major part of our business but it’s a broadening of our strategy,’ Casella chief John Casella said.
He added the change was partly about trying to get some respectability in the industry, the Melbourne Age reported.
The wine will be aimed at the restaurant market, giving the sales force a bigger portfolio to work with.
Yellow Tail Shiraz and Merlot, from Riverina in New South Wales, were launched in the US three years ago and now sell about 7m cases a year.
According to analysts AC Nielsen it was one of the fastest growing wine brands in the US, growing at a rate of 446% in 2003.
Written by Adam Lechmere, and agencies
