08 July, 2017
Next is the new wine brand developed by Amazon and King Vintners - an arm of the well-heeled Oregon King Estate Winery.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has rolled out a wine label called 'NEXT, ' but the company insists it does not own it.
King Estate Winery is located at the tip of Willamette Valley southwest of Eugene, OR, producing wines that represent the terroir of the Pacific Northwest.
The online retail giant is selling bottles of Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir.
Amazon Wine has been around since 2012 offering bottles of wine for under $10 right up past $50.
The venture has been described as a "a next generation look at wine by an old wine family".
The new line includes a Pinot Gris for $20, a Red Blend for $30 and a Pinot Noir for $40 - not extravagant prices, but higher than I would expect for Amazon, which always is thinking about mass appeal. So far, only 1,500 cases of each variety has been produced, according to Amazon. "When people lived in the same village, the wines and cuisine developed together", says Ed King III, co-founder of the vineyard.
The wine is available on Amazon, AmazonWine, and will eventually be on the King Vintners website.
"We're thrilled to connect wineries, like King Estate, with millions of customers and give them an innovative format to launch new brands".
'Today that direct link is at risk of being lost.
Weeks after it gobbled up the supermarket chain Whole Foods, Amazon has taken a further swig of the food and drink industry.
"We're launching Next on Amazon to re-establish the connection between winemaker and wine lover in today's "digital village".
