The wine, which comes in Brut Blanc de Noir (50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir) and Rosé (10% Malbec, 90% Chardonnay/Pinot Noir) styles, is made from a number of high-altitude sites in Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina.
Priced at £14.99 - and £15.99 for the Rosé - the wine will be available in Majestic in the off-trade and in the on-trade listings are with Gaucho, through its 19 restaurants, Premium Country Pubs, and new Mitchells and Butlers premium country estate with 125 pubs, among others.
The wine is positioned in a bracket above most Proseccos and below most Champagnes in the UK.
Jean-Guillaume Prats, CEO of Estates & Wines at Luxury Group LVMH, told DI that it taken four years of market research and planning to decide which of the Chandon wines – which are produced in Argentina, India, China, Brazil, California and Australia - would be best suited to the UK market.
According to Prats, Moet’s 1,000 ha of Mendoza vineyards, the first of which was established in 1959, offers wines of a fresh style and the scale necessary to meet demand in the UK market – which for the £13-£17 price bracket, could be as much as 3m bottles per year.
Chandon Argentina represents 50% of the sparkling market in Argentina and Uruguay. The UK is the first market outside of Latin America that it has launched to, although another European market could follow.
