Local wine giants ConstellationNZ have made a big breakthrough after more than half a decade of hard graft in the fickle US market, taking out first place in terms of sauvignon blanc sales across April.

Nobilo Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is the first New Zealand wine to top varietal sales, snatching first place from Napa Valley winemakers Kendall Jackson in the April IRI sales survey (by volume).

The brand was launched in the US six years ago, and Constellation has pursued an aggressive marketing strategy tailored specifically to the US market.

This included repackaging the product in white glass, as opposed to green, and putting the bottle under a cork, instead of the local industry dominated screw cap.

In the US the screw cap is still seen as a ‘low class’ as are green bottles, enabling Constellation to focus on the premium wine market.

ConstellationNZ has a 40% share of all New Zealand wine sold in the US, with two of their other brands, Monkey Bay and Kim Crawford, also making the top five sauvignon sales list at number four and five in the US respectively.