The Road to Doña Paula Malbec

It’s been a bumper year for partner signings at NSW. Yet, despite the fact that we’ve added five new wine producers to our portfolio in the last 12 months, the process of finding and building up to each and every affiliation is anything but fast. This is because, when it comes to adding to our partner portfolio, our journey to finding the right collaboration usually begins months – or even years – before the signing itself takes place. By the time we announced our partnership with Doña Paula earlier in the summer, we knew we had a very special partner that was going to give us an edge within the Argentina category. The quality of the wines, Malbec and beyond, is what is going to take Argentina to the next level.

Doña Paula – the complete package

In the case of Doña Paula, we were already familiar with the fact that Malbec is the fastest growing grape varietal. And Argentina is a country with a lot of commercial opportunities for our customers – as per our recent win of a regional wholesaler supplying Los Cardos wines to rugby matches in Scotland. A 2021 report published by Harpers indicated that the Argentina sector recorded a 23% growth in terms of value, being one of the fastest growing markets of origin.

We knew we just had to get a foot in, so it comes as no surprise that our managing director, Kim Wilson, made it our company’s aim to find the perfect Argentinian winery to add to our portfolio. To put it in her words, “Argentina is something we have been thinking about for a long time […] we wanted to work with a supplier that offered the whole package; excellent quality, the ability to grow and an understanding of how to do business in the UK”.

What attracted us to Doña Paula

So what was the key attraction to Doña Paula? For one, it is a key Malbec producer, both on a local and global level. Their Estate Malbec beat 144 other Malbecs from all over the world in the June issue of Decanter, winning the title of ‘Best value Malbec’. 

The estate grown wines are in fact from the best regions – Lujàn de Cuyo and Valle de Uco. The deep territory expression, combined with a great mouth makes the ageing potential of these wines 15-20 years. 

And it helped that the brand was already established in the UK with some solid consumer recognition.

We were blown away by the quality of the rest of the range too. Argentina is coming of age and it is time to proactively invite customers and consumers to explore other varietals than Malbec. The Whites produced by Dona Paula are absolutely exquisite, delicate and full of freshness.

But these weren’t the only reasons we decided to pursue this particular producer. 

Estate quality

The company’s ethos when it comes to sustainability is very much aligned to ours. Since 100% of the grapes used in the production comes from their own vineyards, the label is considered an estate winery. They present wines of intense character, complex and vivacious in an expression of the origin territory. So, at these price points Doña Paula offers very good value.

Future plans

We have carefully crafted a multichannel outlook with this Doña Paula, choosing a specific trade channel for each brand. 

We’ve based our selection on which wine, labels and price points would suit each trade channel best:  

Over the following weeks, we will give the brand more exposure in the trade, with some masterclasses, tutored tastings and incentives.

And on the 17th October, Martin Kaiser kicked off the celebration of the Seleccion Vendimia 20th anniversary with a mini vertical tasting in London (organised by the Drinks Business). More activations will follow.

We have also started an exclusive incentive for our Independent customers. Find out more from your account manager, if this is of interest.

Behind the scenes

Most people only become aware of a new partner relationship when we announce it to the press. But the announcement marks the end of a very lengthy process that we follow to bring the most commercially attractive wines to our clients.

To get more information on Doña Paula or to see our partner portfolio in its full glory, read through our list of partners here. We can always tell you more if you contact us with questions.