Plantagenet to supply 3000 semillon cases to Sweden

Mount Barker wine producer Plantagenet Wines will send 3,000 cases of its semillon sauvingnon blanc blend to Sweden's government controlled liquor outlets, supplying the only new Australian white to the range.

The full text of a company announcement is pasted below

UP TO 10,000 cases of Western Australian wine producer Plantagenet Wines' Hazard Hill Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2006 will be on their way to Sweden in the New Year after the wine won a lucrative and hotly-contested tender to supply 300 Swedish retail monopoly stores with an Australian Semillon Sauvignon Blanc blend.

Hazard Hill beat off competition from up to 150 other Australian SSBs and will be the only new Australian white listed in the government-controlled Systembolaget's fixed range launch for April 2007.

Plantagenet Wines' Swedish distributor, Primewine, said it was a fantastic achievement for the brand, since up to 150 wines would have been offered for tender, just 50 accepted for tasting, and then only one winner for the coveted single listing.

An initial shipment of 3,000 cases will leave the winery in Mount Barker, WA, in January for the April launch, with follow-ups throughout the year and well into 2008.

Ian Mayo, general manager of Plantagenet, said it was great news for the winery and good news for Western Australian SSBs generally, since it increased international recognition for the wine style.

"For Plantagenet, this will take Sweden up to our third largest export country, after the USA and UK, which means we can devote more resources to that market," he said.

"It's a great extra string to our export bow in Northern Europe, and adds to the strong base we have already built in Denmark and the Netherlands."