English cricket legend Sir Ian Botham has released a new range of Australian wines, into the Australian market, which he has worked closely on with winemakers from across the country.
The range comprises seven wines across three different tiers, ranging from $11 to $100 per bottle and he told TheShout, the last thing he wanted to create was just another ‘celebrity wine’.
“People could come along thinking ‘this is just another celebrity wine’, which is a term I hate, but it isn’t and I think they will be pleasantly surprised. But this isn’t, this is good wine,” he said.
“I think for the price ranges that we offer it over it is excellent, and I think that is why the response, particularly for the entry-level has been so immense. We had to come back a couple of months early to re-blend for the market because in the UK it has just gone ballistic.”
The wines were made with Nick Badrice, Chief Winemaker at Dorrien Estate in the Barossa, Marty Edwards, Head Vigneron at The Lane in Adelaide Hills and Sir Ian’s old friend, Geoff Merrill of Geoff Merrill wines.
“My philosophy going into this was simple. I knew the style of wine I was looking for, and I wanted to offer exceptional but reasonably priced wines. I truly believe the wines we’ve brought to market are exceptional varietal examples from their respective regions,” Sir Ian said.
The first tier in the range, priced at $11 RRP includes The Botham All-Rounder entry level wines of a Shiraz and a Chardonnay made with fruit from multiple regions across South Eastern Australia which have been blended to create “all-rounder wines that designed to appeal to most palates”.
The second tier, RRP $17.99, The Botham Series, features a Margaret River Chardonnay, Barossa Shiraz and Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon.
Finally the premium range which carries a $100 RRP, features a Barossa Valley Single Vineyard Shiraz 2013 and 2017 Adelaide Hills Chardonnay.
In terms of why Sir Ian has started with a full range of Australian wines, he told TheShout: “Because I know more about Australian wines than I do any other wine. It’s where I learned what I know, which is not immense in comparison to some people in the room, but what I’ve learned has been Southern Hemisphere – Australasia.”