Villa Maria threatens legal action over copycat brand

New Zealand wine producer Villa Maria has demanded that British supermarket Sainsburys pull a "copycat" brand from its shelves, claiming the labels are too similar to its own.  

The supermarket’s own label Villetta Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc appears similar to Villa Maria’s  which borrows the producer’s white label with gold surround, while employing a similar wing-like logo in almost the same shade of red.  

Wine retailers are awash with private-label lookalikes of leading brands, while the discounters, such as Aldi and Lidl, which only stock exclusive lines, are littered with products that either appear like famous equivalents, or sound like them.  

While the Villetta wine retails for £7, the Villa Maria wine sells for £9 a bottle. The founder of Villa Maria, Sir George Fistonich said he was taking legal advice, though he hoped he did not have to act on it.  

“Villa Maria has spent over 30 years working hard on promoting its brand in the Uk and becoming one of the most recognisable New Zealand wine brands in the market,” he said. “However, since Villetta lauched we have received a lot of feedback about consumer confustion because of the similarities in design.”   ​

"We are quite sure that Sainsbury are aware of this design similarity and are hopeful that they will show respect for the Villa Maria brand and withdraw the Villetta label so that we can end the confusion in the market."

Fistonich said Villa Maria would work with Sainsbury's to find an "amicable solution that works for all parties", he said.    

Earlier this year Chile's largest wine brand Casillero del Diablo seemed to be the inspiration behind another of Sainsbury’s own label wines, Camino del Angel.