Regal Rogue, the Vermouth brand made using Australian wine, has improved its environmental credentials, going to 100 per cent organic wine, 80 per cent organic herbs and 98 per cent recycled packaging.
Founder Mark Ward said he wanted to work towards a more environmentally sustainable product, so he went to the source of the wines, the herbs and the packaging to explore what could be done.
“The vision was always about creating an everyday drinking style and this is the best quality we can deliver across all elements of the brand with a nod to the environment for the long-term,” Ward said.
“Stay tuned for some seriously exciting limited-edition releases next.”
Based on Ward’s explorations on what could be done to change the environmental sustainability of Regal Rogue, three key components have changed.
Firstly all the base wines used are now 100 per cent organic and Australian, sourced from See Saw Wines in Orange, NSW.
This has seen the recipes change slightly with the Lively White moving from a Semillon to an organic un-wooded Chardonnay; the the Daring Dry will stay as an organic Sauvignon Blanc, the Bold Red as a blend of organic Shiraz & unwooded Chardonnay and the Wild Rosé will move from a Shiraz Rosé to an organic Cabernet Rosé in the new range.
Ward said: “With such a lift in the key ingredients, we went back to the beginning with our blending process to focus on a truly natural marriage of the wine and herbs and each varietal now has a new intensity between the ingredients.”
The second key change sees 80 per cent of the herbs used being organic and sourced from Herbal Connection in NSW.
Ward adds: “All of the native herbs and spices will continue to be sourced from Vic Cherikoff, considered to be the forefather of native and wild herbs and spices in Australia.”
Finally 98 per cent of the packaging is now recycled. With a new bespoke bottle – the glass is recycled and all paper stock for the labels has the Forest Stewardship Council stamp. As a consequence of this change, they have removed the paper wraps from the everyday range and instead will keep these for limited edition release.
The new organic range is now available Déjà Vu Wines in Australia.