Concha y Toro is hoping to counteract the image problems dogging Argentinian wines with the launch of a new collection of competitively priced, single varietals. The Chilean company has created a range of 10 wines at Trivento, its wholly owned Argentinian winery, and aims to persuade UK retailers and consumers that the country can produce quality wines at keen prices. UK marketing director Cristian Lopez said: "Argentina is not performing well at retail. Some years ago, after Chile became established, there was a lot of noise that Argentina would be the next New World country to make it big. Expectations from buyers and consumers were high, but it failed to delivery on quality and the rate of sale was never good enough." He suggested consumers had not had enough confidence in the wines to take them off the shelves and what was needed was a generic effort to convince them about the quality. "What Trivento will deliver is a wide range of entry level wines. There is a high cost to us to bring in these wines at £3.99 because we have to over deliver on quality in order to convince the trade we are serious." The wines will be supported by promotional price deals in store and the introduction of a Reserve range at £4.99. Lopez said the economic problems in Argentina had no adverse effect on the export business and could have boosted sales as consumers bought the wines in sympathy. "We have investment in the country and we are determined to make it work," he added. Concha y Toro's domestic sales in Argentina have dropped by half to 60,000 cases, but this is only a small part of its business. It exports 11 million cases of wine from Chile and Argentina. {{DRINKS }}

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