Interview with Arlene Rampono from d'Arenberg

Hi Kasey,

Good to hear from you.

I am glad you enjoyed herself at d’Arenberg recently.

I will try and help out with your questions.

1. How do you feel about Australia's current wine market?  The current Australian wine market is overall positive.  Australian wineries are producing greater numbers of premium wines that promote regionality.  Australian consumers are reasonably well educated more confident with the economy than most other countries, so there spending on wine has continued and in some cases strengthened.

2. How many cases do you produce annually? (so we can get an idea of the winery sizes that we are comparing).  We produce approximately 300,000 cases a year.

3. About what percentage of your wine is exported? On average 70% is exported.

4. Which countries do you choose to export to and why? We export to over 50 countries.  A full list is provided on our website.  Since d’Arenberg’s inception, the owners (the Osborn’s) have always valued and seen value in exporting Australian wines from family owned wineries to the rest of the world.  Spreading the good word about the quality wine d’Arenberg produces globally has always been important to the family and to the brand.  Recently d’Arenberg was one of the founding members of a group called AFFW – Australia’s First Family of Wine.  This is a group of family owned wineries that produce quality wines, have stories and lots of personality. – http://www.australiasfirstfamiliesofwine.com.au/ .  While we founded the group 2 years ago, the principles behind the group are the same reasons why d’Arenberg exports to so many different markets.  In addition it makes sense commercially not to have all your eggs in one basket.

5. How would you compare Australia's wine market to California?  Given the ongoing recession in the US, the Australian wine market is more buoyant.  Consumers are buying at higher price points in Australia as their outlook on the economy is brighter than those generally speaking in the US. They are similar in that both markets have strong loyalty to local wines. 

Arlene Rampono
Regional Sales Manager

d’Arenberg

PO Box 195 Osborn Road, McLaren Vale SA 5171
ph: +61 8 8329 4873
fax: +61 8 8323 9862
mobile: +614 02 844 841 www.darenberg.com.au