Australian creators relaunch world-first purple wines

World-first purple wines have made an appearance at the Melbourne Royal, as the creators work to relaunch the brand.

World-first purple wines are making waves at the Melbourne Royal Show this week, as the founders work to build its place in the industry.

Purple Flame, formerly known as Purple Reign, launched in 2019 aiming to remove synthetic additives like sulfites, and using botanicals with purple hues like blueberries, pomegranate, cranberries, eggplant, beetroot, purple sweet potato and purple carrots.

Now, Masstengo co-founder Tim Macnamara said he’s trying to relaunch the brand after facing severe market challenges during Covid-19.

“It went huge around the world, and then the pandemic came along and destroyed it all. So we’re rebuilding,” he said.

The botanicals are antioxidants, or anthocyanins, which are natural alternatives to sulfites.

Mr Macnamara grew up on a sheep and wheat farm in Goodlands, WA, before attending university.

Light Feet Wines owner Petros Markou, from Sydney, with Purple Flame at Melbourne Royal Show, Flemington. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

He said the idea started while he was studying environmental sustainability, and partnered with co-founder Ross Stewart.

“I got on the tools and started reading all of these papers on the benefits of antioxidants. It turned out the ones in purple foods were the most powerful in nature,” he said.

“The most active component is in the colour purple.”

He said the compounds were made in Queensland, and hand-picked grapes sourced from Margaret River, WA, and South Australian vineyards.

“We set it up to make on demand,” Mr Macnamara said.

He said the classic white blend was historically the bestseller, while the moscato was the most recent addition to the catalogue.

Mr Macnamara said Japan was their biggest export market, with focuses on Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.

It is now the trademark wine for a Godzilla 70th anniversary celebration, and Masstengo recently did a co-branded product with a purple-coloured Japanese soccer team, Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

“It was a frenzy the first time [we launched],” he said.

“It’s been a struggle for a while. If people know why it’s purple, the response is amazing.”