At a time when wine shelves are crowded and consumer attention increasingly hard-won, Little Giant The Remarkables 105 y.o. from Fourth Wave Wine has made its mark — not just with what’s in the bottle, but how it’s presented. Taking home “Best Wine By Package” at the 2025 London Wine Competition, this distinctly Australian wine, sourced from 105-year-old Shiraz vines, stood out for more than just its provenance. In this interview, Ross Marshall, Managing Director at Fourth Wave Wine, speaks about the ideas behind the brand’s unmistakable design, how it reflects a deeper brand philosophy, and what it means to offer wines that feel as real as the people drinking them. From sustainability to shelf standout, and a growing portfolio that now includes award-winning non-alcoholic wines, Marshall shares how Fourth Wave is reshaping how consumers see and connect with wine.

Image: Ross Marshall, Managing Director at Fourth Wave Wine.

“Best Wine By Package” is a major accolade at the London Wine Competition. What story are you trying to tell through the packaging of Little Giant The Remarkables 105 y.o., and how does it reflect both the wine’s heritage and your brand philosophy?

Little Giant was launched and crafted to help wine consumers fall back in love with wine again. Every detail reflects the ambition, from the style of wine, the brand elements in branding and packaging. The wines are real, sourced from real vineyards & from real growers. By crafting a wine that has the fruit sourced from 100+ year old vines, we wanted to showcase this in a premium, hand-crafted way reflective of the brand itself as well as the old vineyard that it came from.

Image: Little Giant The Remarkables 105 y.o.  named Best Wine By Package at the London Wine Competition.

Little Giant is instantly recognisable for its stumpy bottle and wombat branding — a bold departure from traditional packaging. How have these design choices contributed to consumer engagement, and what do they say about how Fourth Wave Wine approaches market differentiation?

The brand name, the easily remembered wombat labelling, and the stumpy bottle, as you call it, all work together in a friendly and memorable way. Fourth Wave approaches all its winemaking and brand-building in this holistic manner. Being all in allows us to connect with today’s shopper and wine consumer more effectively, as they are more all in than ever before. More and more, we are seeing the modern consumer choosing brands that better reflect themselves and the choices they make.

Can you detail the availability of "Little Giant The Remarkables 105 y.o" in the UK and other international markets? Which retail chains, independent stores, or restaurants currently stock this wine? Are there plans to expand its presence in new markets or regions?

The more recognisable red-labelled Little Giant range is widely available in the UK via Waitrose and Sainsbury as well as many major markets such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and much of Asia. This Little Giant, 105-year-old Vines Shiraz, is far more limited in its production due to the lesser quantity of fruit delivered from the old vines of the vineyard. It can still be found across Australia, New Zealand, many parts of Asia, and soon to be in more fine wine stores of the UK. 

Image: Little Giant The Remarkables 105 y.o. - Best Wine By Package.

The wine comes from 105-year-old vines — a rare asset in the Australian landscape. How do these ancient vines shape the wine’s identity, and how does the final expression reflect both varietal character and terroir?

Australia has some very old, dry-grown vineyards. In South Australia, they are predominantly Shiraz and Grenache. These are certainly an asset and something Australia can be very proud to boast about. The wines crafted from the best of these vines have a level of concentration and complexity above much younger material. They, in our view, when made with minimal interventions and more judicious use of oak, carry flavours and characters of the vineyard beautifully, showcasing where they have come from like nothing else can.

Following its win in London, how are you leveraging this recognition across your global marketing, particularly in the UK and Europe? Can you share details on which retail chains, independent stores, or restaurants are already listing the wine, and what your market expansion strategy looks like?

It is early days for Little Giant wines in the UK and across Europe. Since our launch of the brand, the response has been incredible, performing very well for our retail partners and having a great response from the growing consumer base. This has certainly been a catalyst to help further engage the Little Giant consumer and showcase the terrific winemaking expertise, vineyard resource, and breadth of the brand by seeking to launch individual older vineyard wines, such as these 105-year-old vines. We will continue to bring our newest and best wine launches to the UK and help cement Little Giant further into the hearts and minds of wine drinkers all over.

Image: (Left) Winemaker Corey Ryan holding Little Giant The Remarkables 105 y.o. Celebrating its UK launch at Sainsbury's.

For importers and distributors, what kind of support do you provide to help move stock and maintain a strong rate of sale? Are there specific tools, marketing kits, or retail activations in place?

Much of our strategy is to help the shopper in-store by working with our retailer partners about what that can look like. As well as building a strong digital and social presence aligned with the brand, knowing that’s how today’s shoppers consume much of their media and gather information. Best to talk with us directly about what’s best for, ideally, a shared ambition.

Fourth Wave Wine has built a reputation for championing sustainability, from organic farming to lower-impact packaging. How does this wine fit into that ethos, and are there broader sustainability initiatives you’re particularly proud of across your portfolio?

Fourth Wave has a sustainability action plan in place, having us work toward our greater, over-arching sustainability goals across our entire portfolio of winemaking. For Little Giant specifically, we have launched this to be a very social brand. Helping to bring people and their communities together. Little Giant has begun by sponsoring a number of local and community-funded sporting clubs. Clubs that are deeply connected with their local community.

Tread Softly Everything Except Pinot Noir 2024 was awarded Best Non-Alcoholic Wine of the Year and the Best Non-Alcoholic Red of the Year at the 2025 London Wine Competition. Could you share the inspiration behind this wine, the innovative techniques employed in its production, and how this recognition influences your approach to the rapidly growing non-alcoholic wine market? 

This is terrific recognition of our advanced winemaking in relation to our Zero Alcohol program. Tread Softly is naturally our lighter alcohol brand, given the wines are always crafted to be lighter in flavour and alcohol. A zero-alcohol range within the brand was an easy natural progression. Particularly given that we have been getting such pleasing results with our zero winemaking. Importantly, we start with very good fruit for our Tread Softly base wine, with lifted flavours, aromatics, and showcasing natural balance.  We then choose to remove the alcohol in a controlled, cooler environment so as not to heat the wine, which loses flavour too quickly. This is normally a combination of cool distillation and fine membrane technology, then blending.

Image: Tread Softly Everything Except Pinot Noir 2024 - Best Non-Alcoholic Wine of the Year and the Best Non-Alcoholic Red of the Year at the 2025 London Wine Competition. 

Conclusion

For Ross Marshall and the team at Fourth Wave Wine, success lies not just in accolades but in resonance with consumers, communities, and the landscapes that shape each bottle. Little Giant The Remarkables 105 y.o. is more than a cleverly packaged wine; it’s a quiet celebration of old vines, honest winemaking, and approachable branding in a modern market. Their recent win at the London Wine Competition may bring more visibility, but it’s the long-term vision — from sustainability efforts to innovation in no-alcohol wine — that underscores their broader ambition. As Fourth Wave continues to grow its presence across the UK and beyond, its message remains clear: wine can be compelling without pretension, and deeply rooted without standing still.

In conversation with Malvika Patel, Editor and VP, Beverage Trade Network

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