That bastion of the community, the Women's Institute, will be feeling the benefit of a marketing campaign designed to revitalise the fortunes of Emva fortified wines. This is part of a plan by the brand's UK distributor, The Drinks Group, to add value to the UK fortified wine market which is dominated by own label. The brand was launched in this country as Emva Cyprus Sherry in the 1950s and reached a sales peak in 1981 of just under one million cases. Recently the brand has been declining at 4% a year and annual sales are below 300,000 cases. It lost the right to the term sherry in 1996 when the EC ruled the description could only be applied to products from Jerez in Spain. Until now the packaging has remained almost unchanged and the brand has received little support. But The Drinks Group this week unveiled a new label which puts more emphasis on the drink's Cyprus heritage. It will also be backing it with radio promotions and will be running a pre-Christmas sampling exercise through WI branches. In an effort to bridge the gap between the traditional Emva drinkers, who are over the age of 45 and younger consumers, The Drinks Group is also extending the brand with two Cyprus wines. Joint managing director Mike Gilmer said: "We have acknowledged there are only certain things we can do to enhance Emva and we needed to reach a broader market, hence the introduction of the wines. "There has not been mass communication on Emva for many years. The WI initiative is a start. "They are not only jam makers, they are sensible people, as Tony Blair has discovered." Gilmer is hoping the Emva name will raise the new wines above the clutter of products going before the buyers so they will win listings for early next year. Their introduction will be backed by tailormade support instore and a promotional price of £3.99, brought down from £4.49. {{DRINKS }}

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