Oregon estate develops wines for release on Amazon

Oregon's King Estate Winery has said that it has launched a range of wines 'from conception to release' with Amazon Wine, although the retailer has cautioned that it did not develop the brand.

King Vintners, a newly created division of King Estate Winery, said that its ‘Next’ brand was ‘the first ever [we have] developed from conception to release with Amazon Wine’. However, an Amazon spokesperson told Decanter.com that ‘this brand is not owned nor developed by Amazon’.

She added, ‘Amazon’s role is to give wineries, like King Estate, an innovative format to launch new brands and reach more customers.’

The wine range, named ‘Next’, launched on amazonwine.com on 28 June. The name of the range is intended to represent the ‘next generation’ of King family winemakers.

It’s a move that underlines Amazon’s commitment to wine within its online retail empire and shows how competition in the e-commerce market for wine is heating up.

It also reflects growing demand for premium wine in the US.

The Next range initially includes a Willamette Valley Pinot Gris 2016 at $20-a-bottle, a Columbia Valley ‘red blend’ 2014 at $30 and an Oregon Pinot Noir 2015 at $40.

‘Amazon Wine provides a convenient destination for customers to shop a vast selection of high quality and every day wine brands,’ said Nick Loeffler, of Amazon Wine.

‘We’re thrilled to connect wineries, like King Estate, with millions of customers.’

Online marketplace eBay launched into wine retail in 2016 in 45 US states, and earlier this year that it would add another 1,000 wines to its lists in the UK via a deal with WineDirect.

Wal-Mart-owned wholesaler Sam’s Club has also launched its own wines this year.

Updated 07/07/2017: This article has been updated to reflect comments from Amazon that it has no ownership of the ‘Next’ brand.