Corks were flying at Raisin Social this week as news came in that South African wine brand Namaqua started 2008 by breaking through the 1 million case barrier for the first time.

Nielsen statistics for the year ending 23rd February 2008 show sales in the off trade of over 1 million 9 litre cases of Namaqua, representing growth over the last 12 months of a hefty 40%. Value sales in sterling have grown by even more, up 43%over the past year.

The overall market for South African wines in the off trade was static in the 12 months to 23rd February 2008, showing growth of just 1% in volume and value.

Namaqua is South Africa’s biggest selling brand both in the South African home market and worldwide, with sales of over 4.6 million 9 litre cases per annum. 

Namaqua now ranks number 13 in the total UK off trade for light wine brands, ahead of Rosemount and Piat d'Or

When asked what has contributed to the success of Namaqua, Simon Halliday, owner and MD of Raisin Social, puts it down to the consistent quality of the wine in the bottle. “Even non promotional sales are  very strong”, he says, showing that “customers are happy buying Namaqua week in week out.”  

Crucially, all the wine that goes into the Namaqua label comes exclusively from the Namaqua (formally known as Westcorp) wineries and so consistency and quality can be completely controlled by their winemakers.

“We have been working with the Namaqua winery for over 15 years”, says Gerard Barnes of Raisin Social, “Their work on wine quality is really paying dividends.  We are delighted with the consistency of the quality both in the bottle and box.”

Namaqua is available in bag in box and bottle formats across the UK and the move into new premium varietals has proved very successful in 2007