Walmart Debuts Reserve Series of Private-Brand Wines

Retailer reintroduced its Winemakers Selection label last year with a classic series of wines, following up this month with premium reserve line

Dan Ochwat

7/21/2021

Walmart's new Reserve Series collection will feature five premium wine varietals from some of the world’s prominent growing regions for a suggested retail price of $10 a bottle.

Walmart’s added five premium wines to its Winemakers Selection store brand, a label that was unearthed in 2018 and periodically refreshed since then.

The latest arrival is the Winemakers Selection Reserve Series, five varietals at $10 a bottle, including an Argentinian Malbec, Italian Pinot Grigio, French Rosé, Californian Cabernet Sauvignon and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

The premium reserve line expands off the Winemakers Selection label that first launched in 2018 and received a relaunch last year with the Winemakers Selection Classic Series of wines. The product was a quick customer favorite, said Jason Fremstad, VP, adult beverage at Walmart, in a company blog post announcing the wines.

Store brand wines have been enjoying a lot of success. Nielsen reported private label brands accounted for 3.12% of all wine sales at mass merchants, convenience and liquor stores for the 52 weeks ended Jan. 2. And in a Store Brands report on wine, Kate Helm, senior manager of private brands at E. & J. Gallo Winery, noted more retailers have been looking to private brands as a pillar of their overall corporate growth strategy plans, adding that E. & J. Gallo doubled its private brand volume sales between 2014 and 2018 and is on track to repeat that performance through 2022.

Key to the reserve line is the global reach the wines provide, with each wine representing a different region in the world. The Pinot Grigio hails from Italy’s delle Venezie region, the Malbec from the Andes Mountains in Mendoza, Argentina, a crisp Rosé from the South of France, a fruity Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand's Marlborough region, and a layered Cabernet Sauvignon from California.

The Winemakers Selection Classic Series of wines remain available for consumers and are at a lower price point of $5.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart operates about 10,500 stores and clubs under 48 banners in 24 countries, and e-commerce websites, employing 2.2 million-plus associates worldwide. Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.