Molson Coors Beverage Company has agreed an exclusive distribution deal with award-winning premium Chilean winemaker Bouchon Family Wines.
The agreement, which starts from this month, makes Molson Coors the sole distributor of the Bouchon range of 19 wines to the UK on-trade and on-trade wholesalers. All 19 red and white wines will be sold in standard 75cl bottles.
The Bouchon family has been making wine in the Maule Valley in Chile for more than 130 years, where the region’s warm Mediterranean-esque climate helps the winery produce highly expressive, fruity wines.
The family has a shared French and Chilean heritage and uses both Bordeaux grape varietals and Chile’s local Carmenere, Carignan and País grapes to produce its wines.
Gary Keller, wine and drinks expertise director at Molson Coors, expanded, “The Bouchon family has been making world-class wine for over a century and this is exactly the type of producer we want to work with as we continue to expand our portfolio beyond beer and cider.
“The premium heritage of the brand, its family history, and resolute commitment to quality align well with our own values, and their use of ancestral South American grape varietals like País will help to bring different flavours for UK consumers to explore.”
Molson Coors currently distributes around 800 wines to the UK on-trade. It has a long-standing relationship with Bouchon Family Wine’s sister company Vina Bisquertt, from Colchagua Valley in Chile, and has been distributing its wines in the UK for more than a decade.
Juan Bouchon, general manager at Bouchon Family Wines, noted, “Molson Coors’ long-standing relationship with our sister company makes us confident they are the partner we need to successfully enter the UK market.
“Our combination of classic French and new-world South American grape varietals brings something new to the wine scene in the UK and we’re very much looking forward to giving pubs, bars and restaurants up and down the country the opportunity to offer it to their customers.”
Wine & Spirits Magazine named Bouchon in its list of The Enthusiast 100: The Best Wines of 2021 and Decanter Magazine chose two of its wines – Granito 2015 and País Salvaje 2019 - among their wines of the year in 2020.