Australian wine brand Yellow Tail is introducing a new Chardonnay and a range of reserve wines this spring to build on its meteoric rise from a £4.9m to a £20.1m brand over the past two years [Nielsen].

Yellow Tail Crisp Chardonnay will retail at about £5.99 and has been designed as a "fresh, zingy alternative to over-oaked Australian chardonnays", said Paul Letheren, MD of the brand's UK agent, Off-Piste. The brand's five-strong range of single varietal reserves (rsp: £8.99), currently only listed in the US, will also debut in the UK this spring.

Poor exchange rates between sterling and the Australian dollar had made this year a struggle, said Letheren, although Yellow Tail's sales were up 10.1% in value and 4.1% in volume [Nielsen MAT 3 October].

"We're not doing the deep promotions we used to do, and we've increased listings and distribution," he said.