The brief

Winemaker Louis Vavasour defined his new luxury range of LV wines from Marlborough as being deliciously different with plenty of personality – making them an attractive addition to the market thus far.

From their vineyards and wineries across the country, Sapor Makers & Growers have been focused on bringing premium wines made with flavour in mind – intensity of flavours, breadth of flavours, distinctive flavours; New Zealand’s flavourful best.

The three wines made in Vavasour’s Awatere Valley winery – Methode Traditionelle NV, Chardonnay 2016 and Pinot Noir 2016 – debuted in the New Zealand market in October of last year.

Their signature Methode Traditionelle has exceeded expectations of quality while the Chardonnay is very different from others in the market and the Pinot Noir offers a very pure expression of the grape variety.

The brand, captioned “in the spirit of rebellion since 1207”, references Maud Le Vavasour who married local outlaw Fulk Fitzwarin in 1207 and is rumoured to have inspired the legend of Robin Hood himself.

By delving into a colourful part of the Vavasour family history, the LV brand have accentuated the wines themselves to reflect Vavasour’s own rebellious personality of going against the grain. With elegance, the brand also radiates luxury with its regal heritage colours and proud family coat of arms – making it a stand out in the market of luxury New Zealand wines.

The Wright approach

Wright Communications had no doubt anticipating that the launch of the LV range would inevitably spark curiosity from its unique brand story. A dash of rebellion tied in with a brand-new luxury wine are words bound to stimulate the modern socialite. 

The release of the new range was a monumental moment for the luxury LV brand. With regards to this, Wright Communications suggested a graceful and considered manner of sparking interest by offering an exclusive ‘first taste’ of the new luxury range to high profile personalities.  

A select few personalities were delivered the elegant LV range right to the door of their homes along with a personalised message from Louis Vavasour himself. The personal and exclusive touch offered by these deliveries saw a greater opportunity for the LV brand to detail the brand story to those who truly have an appreciation for the quality that comes with Sapor’s New Zealand wines.

Wright Communications saw that these select few were those who held great regard to a more subtle and sophisticated word-of-mouth approach towards influencing their well-connected circle of friends and networks. In the comfort of their own home, tasteful conversation surrounding their exclusive first taste was bound to leave a lasting impression on how these high-profile personalities influence and advise their friends as to their next wine purchase.

To maximise the quality of social and media coverage, Wright Communications also delivered the new range to a select few media and social media influencers. The delivery was distributed just in time for the weekend, where key media could get excited about having a brand-new range to try and kick start their Friday night.

Outcome

The launch of luxury LV brand was incredibly positive and an understated success. Wright Communications ensured that the brand itself maintained a subtle elegance by providing well-considered approaches which celebrate the milestone launch.

Wright Communications allowed for an approach which saw the luxury LV brand effectively gain traction amongst a demographic who had a true appreciation for the quality of the wine and the brand story. The rebellious characteristics of the brand story tied well into the attitude which the luxury LV brand portrays and would have spread into exciting and interesting conversations amongst these impressed top-level individuals.

These high-profile personalities interacted well with the luxury LV brand which paved the way for subtle influence. This would have been authentic, of a high quality and therefore more likely to have been well-received by their peers.

Wright Communication’s approach towards a word-of-mouth style of influence was indeed the stepping stone which sparked a strong curiosity for the launch of the LV brand. The outcome of this was a level of inquisitiveness and anticipation developed from the element of exclusive luxury. The launch developed the intriguing fact that those who purchase the luxury LV range are essentially in the know and definitely ahead of the game when it comes to luxury New Zealand wines.