From Guinness UDV. A new look and a new wine for this established brand were introduced this summer.
Abv: 12%
Price £4.49
TARGET CONSUMER
Victoria Crook, 20, from Brighton is a student of PR at Bournemouth University
Having sampled a selection of wines at university, this one has to be the worst.
It has a powerful taste which, combined with the smell, doesn't make for an enjoyable drinking experience. However, I forgot about this after a few glasses and the wine went down more easily.
I prefer a dry wine and usually choose a Chardonnay from one of the New World regions, but this wine was far drier than almost any other wine I've tasted and that spoilt the fruity taste.
The bottle shape is odd, which would initially attract me, but the labelling is rather too fancy. The writing on the bottle looks cheap and unlike most other wine labels.
At £3.99 it's at the lower end of the market, but the taste is not as good as the price would indicate.
I will not be buying this wine.
Rating out of 25 5
Phil Tuck
Master of Wine and wine director of Hatch Mansfield
This has an innovative presentation which I like. The wine has a clean, fresh, lifted, slightly grassy smell but shows little sense of place. It has little depth and is relatively simple with some mild chemically elements to it. The palate is light and dry, with just enough acidity to keep it fresh. It needs to be drunk young to retain its fresh zesty style. Certainly dry, as is stated on the label, this is a massive improvement on its forebears and deserves to succeed. Is this departure in style going to upset the original target market? Good value for money. Rating out of 25 14
Gary McCall
Managing director of Poulter Partners
Piat d'Or faces the same dilemma as all branded wines. How does it appeal to a mainstream audience and retain the need for discovery and individualism among the more discerning public? In most sectors owning a unique packaging style adds to the brand's equity. There is no mistaking Piat's bottle shape but in this sector is it an advantage? It has a distinctive semi transparent front label design spoilt by the fact it lacks legibility and overall visual impact. Only time will tell whether simply changing the label and dropping the Le' from the name will help the brand recapture its leading market position. Rating out of 25 16
Carol Du Cann
Senior buyer (beers, wines and spirit) at Alldays
The presentation is much improved. Maintaining the USP with the bottle shape, adding grape variety detail, which influences consumer purchase, and the tasting note on the front is all good stuff. But the liquid does not match the label description. I may not be the target consumer (although why not?), but this is not a dry white wine to me by a long chalk and what has happened to the Chardonnay in this blend? If Piat is to attract new and lapsed drinkers this wine is just too safe, particularly considering what Vin de Pays can now produce. Will new consumers come back for that second bottle? Rating out of 25 12
Total score out of 100 47
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