Peregrine Wines chief executive Fraser McLachlan is unashamedly enthusiastic about the deal he and his co-directors Lindsay and Jude McLachlan have signed with Vineyard Brands.
The deal will mean the full range of Peregrine wines being distributed to every state in the United States, a significant increase on the pinot noir and sauvignon blanc which had been selling in selected states in the past few years.
Mr McLachlan said in an interview with the Otago Daily Times Peregrine had been in a working relationship with Vineyard Brands for six or seven years.
The factor which clinched the deal for Peregrine was it being a family business. Before Peregrine, Vineyard dealt with Villa Maria. The deal, signed earlier this month, was an opportunity to build on the relationship started six or seven years ago, he said.
Although Mr McLachlan declined to disclose the volume of wine Peregrine sold to the US, because of market sensitivities, the new deal would mean a 50% increase in production.
But he was quick to assure the newspaper there was still plenty of wine to service both the domestic and US markets.
Peregrine, although based in Gibbston valley, regarded itself as a Central Otago winemaker. It was developing 11ha in Bendigo and also used grapes from Pisa and some fruit from a small number of other growers. The wine itself was all made at the Gibbston Valley winery.
Peregrine had been bucking the national trend when it came to exports, Mr McLachlan said. About 70% of wine made in New Zealand was exported but it was the opposite for Peregrine, which had New Zealand and Australia as its largest market. And most of the market growth in the US, which was now the world’s largest consumer of wine, was from Marlborough savignon blanc.
"We’ve stayed close to home to start with and now we are expanding offshore."
Vineyard president and chief executive Greg Doody visited Peregrine for the second time this month to cement the deal, Mr McLachlan said.
Mr McLachlan travelled to the US about four times a year and had developed a strong working relationship with Mr Doody and the Vineyard staff.
Lindsay McLachlan, the managing director, said the deal gave the winery the reach into the world’s biggest wine market with nationwide placement, a market to which the family had never envisaged it would have access.
"We’re absolutely thrilled they have selected us, delighted they enjoy the wines and recognise the quality. What we have here is a long-term channel to be able to take the wines we’re really proud of to a huge wine market, something we couldn’t do without them."
Mr Doody said his company was choosey about whom it worked with but it had loved the wines and people at Peregrine.
"We’re a family business and so are they. We have a good track record of working with families looking to the future, planting for their children or grandchildren."
There was a good story to tell about Peregrine and Central Otago back in the US and that was important to Vineyard when it was just more than a delivery service.
Vineyard staff could "sell the story" to its distributors and their sales representatives could then sell it to retail outlets and restaurants, he said.
Although the Vineyard Brands company was founded in 1979, Mr Doody said the founding family originally started in 1928 with one Burgundy vineyard.
"We still work with that vineyard so that’s proof we tend to stick with people and they stick with us, which is good news for Peregrine."
Fraser McLachlan said the winery was actively engaging with clients and customers in the United States through social media, something which would help tell the story of the family-owned business.
Peregrine made its first vintage in 1998 and produced pinot noir, rose, chardonnay, pinot gris, riesling, sauvignon blanc and sparkling wine.
