OK, I admit I am becoming a bit of a wine snob and have resisted adding Colio’s “Girls Night Out” wines to Essex Wine Review. But wth very few no local wine releases lately I was running out of new wines to add to the site so on a recent visit at a local LCBO I finally decided it was time to give it a taste test.

Colio Esate Winery has created a brand that appears to be a very successful marketing plan.

The “Girls’ Night Out” brand target buyer is women. What guy (except me) is going to walk out of a local LCBO with a bottle of this wine? Marketed as a wine that is perfect for a group of ladies to share while on a night out on the town. No cork screw needed as they have twist off tops.

Colio originally introduce 3 wines under the “Girl’s Night Out” label and due to the success will soon add two more wines.

The marketing campaign has been successful enough to make is a best seller for Colio but is the wine good enough to get repeast customers?

The wine is very light in colour. The bouquet is fruity and promised to be a nice chardonnay. Unfortunately it did not live up to this promise as I found the taste to be very mild and light, almost seemed to be watered down. Missing was the mouthfeel, and buttery taste of many good local chardonnays. The finish was also very short.

Wanda and I sampled this wine together and she shared my comments. She stated that the wine didn’t taste bad, but at the same time it just didn’t have a lot of taste.

There are better local chardonnay’s out there but currently there are none that have been marketed like this one. The success of this wine will not be becasue it is the best chardonny out there and will be because of the successful marketing efforts.

Other local wineries could learn alot Colio Estate Winery. Find a niche, create a product for them, brand it and it will sell. 5 out of 5 stars for Successful marketing 101.