WINE

Why Low Alcohol Wines still have a Long Way to go : A Brainstorming with Wine Industry Professionals

2011-12-02T11:34:00.000+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) I was recently reading an interesting article in The Drinks Business that said : "The poor quality of the majority of low-alcohol wines in the UK is preventing consumers from making repeat purchases or trying other brands, according to Banrock Station." In fact, making wine has never been a simple thing. Get wine industry professionals around a table and start a brainstorming session to find a way to generate further revenues in new profitable niches.

"What about the low alcohol wine niche? "

"Great idea ! I read some articles about it and people are fed up with too powerful wines with strong alcohol content. It's a great idea!" said Eddy, the Chief Marketing Officer. "John, on the production side, how can we achieve this?"

John : "I have to ask my guys to make some tries but we already have contacts with technology companies that can help on that. It's not a problem. How many bottles to you want to sell?"

Eddy: "We have to make some plans, I have to report to our MDs on different markets where there may show an interest. I have to come back to you on that. I will write a docucument for each country to let them understand that we are able to make and see their interest. I will ask them what colour they would prefer: white, rosé or red? I will then define a pricing strategy for each country."

"OK guys, well done, great idea, I think we go into a new market that many consider as a niche but that could be a terrific market for us. Let's do it ! See you next month."

""May I just ask a question" said Martin. "What does it taste like a low alcohol wine?"

"Don't worry Martin on that point, we have many studies. We just have to make sure it tastes like our end consumers want. I am sure John with his team will do his best to achieve this."

Martin: "No I just tell you this because my wife and I are fed up with too strong and powerful wines and we are very interested in tasting a low alcohol wine because we finally can't do without the magical part that brings a bottle of wine."

John: "Martin, do you like 9.5% german rieslings?"

Martin: "Yes we love them so much, so many different tastes, the ageing potential is spectacular and the balance is always magic."

Eddy: "And apart from the too strong alcohol content, do you like the aromas of some powerful red wines?"

Martin: "Yes of course but at the same time we are keen on some red wines with strong alcohol content from Australia or South of France because, in these specific wines, we do not feel this alcohol. When the balance is great, it is only when you get to the label that you understand the wine has a strong alcohol content."

John: " So low alcohol wines are exactly that. You get the aromas you like but you do not suffer from a burning alcohol. Does that answer your question?"

Martin: "Yes, regarding the aromas but I still miss the points regarding Balance and Magic..."

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Darling…Be Natural, take your clothes off ! Show me your Terroir.

2011-10-25T09:06:00.000+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) I was recently reading a comment regarding the new documentary "Wine from Here" about Natural Wine in California. The title of this article was: "Wine From Here documentary proves terroir doesn't matter" (read here). In fact, I find that all these very interesting interviews put on the website that promotes the film www.winefromhere.com are telling a completely different story. What Paul Draper (Ridge Vineyards, Santa Cruz Mountains), Ted Lemon (Littorai, Sebastobol) and many others say shows us that natural winemaking enhances taste and pleasure because it enhances the major assets of each vineyard such as soil and grape varieties' expression. As Shawn Robinson (Renaissance, Sierra Foothills) and Mike Dash (Dashe Cellars, Oakland) put it : "Natural wines give more back in terms of individuality (...) the composition of the flavours is more complex" or "Natural wines are more interesting, distinctive, more complex ".

The sense of Place is not dead, The sense of Place has a new life. And Terroir is not dead, Terroir has a new life. Are natural wines the only ones to express the Place and the Terroir at their best? Not at all but they will help the producers who used to put too much "make up" and "clothes" in their wines to understand if their own place is excellent, good or bad. At a first stage, with a new "natural" approach, winemakers will get a better sense of their place. But the second stage will be about Terroir. What is terroir in fact? It is the meeting of Soil, Climate and Weather – that will shape the vintage- and of Savoir-Faire. So, if we consider for example France, Italy or Germany - where this notion is very important - each appellation is made up of a terroir or a multitude of terroirs. It took centuries to define those terroirs in these countries and it will take time to find all the terroirs that exist in the world. For sure, California can boast about great terroirs but will certainly find many others with a more "natural" approach. Like everywhere in the world.

So, in my view, the point of this documentary is not that terroir doesn't matter. In fact, Terroir matters and has never been so important since the "natural winemaking" approach started to develop. My point is not to say that Natural wines are the best. Why? Because, before saying that "natural" wines are the best, we should know what we are talking about...What "Natural wine" means exactly? Is "Natural" the best adjective to define these wines or should we prefer "naked", "organic" or any other name? My point is that after having put so much "make up" and "clothes" in wines, there is a time when we would like to see (and drink) them "naked" or "natural". And maybe some naked (or natural) ones will be impressive. In fact, this is already the case: Just try Littorai wines (young or some 10 years old) and you will understand that these wines are among the best in the world.

In fact, those interviews show that natural winemaking helps winemakers to get a better definition of "their OWN place in their OWN wine". As Gideon Beinstock, Winemaker at Clos Saron (Sierra Foothills) puts it: "I don't care if it's better or worse or different than Romanee Conti (...) but it does express the special life and the special meaning of this place." In fact, naturally working does not make your wine "terroir oriented", it just makes it "place oriented". If your vines are planted in a poor location, natural winemaking won't help you. Or, at least, it will help you to understand that your place is not as good as the one a few miles away. But winemakers need time to reveal the most beautiful terroirs as it also requires a savoir-faire that some "natural" winemakers are still learning. Soil, climate, weather and savoir faire make a terroir. Everywhere in the world. For too long, Make up and clothes have just hidden this to make standard wines. Darling, be Natural, take your clothes off! Show me your Terroir. (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Chateau Palmer, Domaine Leroy…Farce and Deception at Fauchon Paris

2011-09-29T11:13:00.003+02:00

When a wine expert at Fauchon recommends a 500 euros wine, should you trust him? This is the conclusion we could draw from the documentary "The trouble with experts " that will screen on CBC in Canada on Thursday 29. I only watched the 2mn presentation but I can figure out the full content for one simple reason: I was part of this group on that night at Fauchon. (click here to watch the presentation)

This documentary from Josh Freed will show that "experts" can not tell the difference between a wine at 30 euros and another at 500 euros. Being the only person in the group to have constantly repeated that the wines we were served did not correspond to the label they were showing us, I would like to clarify a few points about this tasting held at Fauchon a few months ago.

1) Fauchon invited us in Paris (place de la Madeleine) to enjoy some great wines including a first growth classified Bordeaux wine. We never saw a first growth being poured into our glasses.

2) Camera, sound ... Everything is recorded, the team makes us sign a document to get the full image rights.

3) Fewer people than expected showed up, so we had to sit closer to each other. Some people from Fauchon were called at the last moment to fill empty spaces. No renowned wine expert at sight: wine professionals (but that does not make you necessarily a wine expert), wine lovers and people who were keen on discovering this wonderful world.

4) An explanation of the tasting was given by a wine expert (Frederic Brochet) from Fauchon. Two glasses will be served: the first will be a 30 euros wine and the second will be a 500 euros wine. So a first glass of red Burgundy was proposed. This expert (in fact he was presented as an expert and might be the only wine expert from the group) introduced shortly this wine. Rapidly we were invited to taste it. Immediately, the Canadian reporter asked us : "So What do you think? ". I replied that, of course, it was good, elegant, delicate, it was the kind of red Burgundy I really appreciate. Then came the second glass and the expert from Fauchon continued: "Here is a great red Burgundy from Leroy that comes from a highly reputed area and has an exceptional ...". This speech continued for several minutes to explain the uniqueness of this wine. And then immediately at the first sip, the second glass had much less elegance, complexity and refinement than the first one. This second wine was good but did not show the same complexity. The camera focused on some of us, including me: "So which one do you prefer?". "Both are good" I replied, and indeed I explained what I considered good in each of these two wines. But I also explained to the reporter and my neighbors that I felt the two wines had been swapped. Indeed, as seen in the short presentation for the documentary, the wine expert from Fauchon had poured the Mercurey into an expensive bottle from the famous wine estate, Leroy. The reporter replied to me that what I was saying was really weird and that we should not waste too much time and should continue to taste other wines.

5) After tasting the next two wines (a chateau Palmer bottle was filled with an unknown red bordeaux wine), the deception was clear and it was easy to understand that the 2 new wines were also swapped. My neighbor, who was discovering great wines, told me she preferred again the first wine and we started a long conversation about this. We were reported to lower our voice as maybe the reporter was feeling that around us people started to have some doubts. The reporter continued: "What wine do you prefer? The first one or the second? "At this point, how can we imagine a single individual in a group of ten people that he/she does not know at all - and which fully trusts the wine expert from Fauchon - to speak in front of the camera and say: "Well the 500 euros wine is not the one you served in the second glass! "The wine lover must have a real courage to speak up and say these words in a group who has been told "This 500 euros wine is unique and exceptional for such and such reason".

Till the end of the evening, I told the reporter that the wines had been swapped. I got no answer and, for me, it was a real deception. But I realized with the short video of the documentary that there are two deceptions actually. The first one is that it was organized at Fauchon, a renowned place for gastronomy and wines. The second is about the title "The trouble with experts" because real wine experts were absent on that night...

After having contacted the head of communication at Fauchon, it appears that they are the first victim of this farce. The wine expert, Frederic Brochet, who conducted this farce is not working at Fauchon anymore. But the image of Fauchon may be tarnished by this documentary which shows bottles that are being swapped and also shows regular Fauchon customers being trapped in this ridiculous farce.

Bordeaux-based négociants start delivering their 2009 Bordeaux. And also Hommage à Jacques Perrin 2009 from Chateau de Beaucastel.

2011-09-20T04:08:00.001+02:00

On James Molesworth's blog, the Bordeaux and Rhone Valley wine specialist from the U.S. magazine Wine Spectator, we recently discovered a big news: "Château de Beaucastel's Hommage à Jacques Perrin Grande Cuvée Cracks the Place de Bordeaux: The Rhône wine becomes the first non-Bordeaux French wine to be offered by Bordeaux-based négociants."

This is a very important news in a market place that was generally closed to only wines from Bordeaux. In fact, if it is the first time for a French but non Bordeaux wine, this is not the case for some other great international wines in recent years : Chile's Viña Almaviva and Opus One from California, both joint ventures of Château Mouton-Rothschild or both super Tuscans Masseto and Solaia are already offered by the same pool of negociants.

In fact, if Hommage à Jacques Perrin can not, in any way, deny its noble and great origins from Chateauneuf du Pape, it is true that the famous Chateau de Beaucastel has much in common with Bordeaux greatest Chateaus. Its history dating back to 1697, the uniqueness of its terroir located at the northern limit of the appellation, the quality and fabulous ageing potential of its wines... all these remind us of the essential qualities of Bordeaux greatest wines. We should also note that Robert Parker has been covering Beaucastel for many years and gives the best scores as he does for Bordeaux most coveted wines.

As James Molesworth puts it, "The system typically favors the biggest names with the longest histories and tends to insulate the top châteaus from the rigors of working the marketplace themselves." It is in fact part of the answers given by the Perrin Family: "The main reason we decided to put some Hommage on the place is because we are always saying 'no' to people who are asking to buy Hommage, as demand for the wine is always much more than we have," said Marc Perrin. "The place de Bordeaux's job is to allocate wines, so it frees us from that. Instead of spending time on the phone saying 'no' to people, we can concentrate on the vineyards and wines."

With 6000 bottles produced - only in great vintages - Hommage à Jacques Perrin is a much coveted wine. As a conclusion, James Molesworth mentions the words of Perrin on the secondary market: "Also, on Hommage there has historically been a secondary market as some people don't drink the wine, but sell it again. This is very unorganized and provenance becomes an issue, which can be damaging for the reputation of the wine and for customers. The place has a way of cleaning that up."

England, don’t be shy, be proud of your bubblies, go your own way ! (Why « Britagne » may not be the right generic name for an english " champagne ")

2011-07-07T10:30:00.003+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Finding a name is not that evident. Take the example of a group. A bunch of people are brainstorming for names. The band members are already so deaf they keep saying, "The who?". Finally, someone suggests the Who as their name. And the legend of the Who band was born. When it comes to choosing a generic name, you may think twice before promoting it. The recent release of a sparkling wine from the British producer Coates and Seely as ‘Britagne’ has already started a debate in England to find a generic name for the British bubblies. The clever marketing approach of Christian Seely, Managing director of the wine division of AXA Millesimes and also the co-founder of Coates and Seely, was to bring out the ‘Britagne’ name and to see how the english community would react. In fact, this debate is necessary if english sparkling producers want to be recognized for producing high quality bubblies. But the road is still long if you consider generic names such as Cava or Spumante that already have some history but still suffer the comparison with Champagne even if, in terms of quality, tremendous progress has been made over the last 20 years.

Is "Britagne" the right generic name for english bubblies? The answers to a few questions could help drawing a first quick conclusion:

1) Is this name easy-to-understand ?

2) Is it hard to pronounce ?

3) Is it meaningful?

4) Is it similar to competitor’s names?

5) Is it emotional ?

6) Is it visually evocative, does it create a mental picture?

7) Does it carry the product qualities and values?

8) Does it empower, engage or enlighten?

A great name is a strong asset for a powerful organization. When you select an uncommon name, it’s unlikely that consumers will confuse your product with something similar. In the industry, most companies don’t focus enough attention on choosing a memorable name. Typically in the industry, people closest to the product development effort are the ones proposing the candidate names. This usually leads to overly "technical" names focused on what a product does. In our example, the estate came up with the "Britagne" name because, in their mind, the wine could be compared to Champagne even if it is "Brit". Great product name in fact for this estate that gained and will certainly continue to gain much PR from this name. But a great product name does not mean a great generic name. "Britagne" will make the Coates and Seely's production recognizable among the rest of the competition but "Britagne" may not be the right generic name that english bubblies need. "Britagne" will always be seen as a play on a French word giving the image of English imitating the French. Unlike the drug industry, where finding a generic name means finding a name for a low cost version of the more expensive brand name product, english bubbly producers must find a generic name that should help them to reinforce the image of a high quality and a unique production. Distinctive from the Champagne name, this generic name needs to create its own environment. English bubbly should not be a "me too" wine, it must be a singular wine with a specific origin and taste. The generic name "Britagne" may fail in that attempt.

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Andreas Larsson, Best Sommelier of the World: « First Growth Bordeaux Wines are just a Memory »

2011-06-24T15:06:00.001+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) The international Wine Fair Vinexpo 2011 came to an end and First Growth Bordeaux wines have not yet disclosed their En Primeur 2010 prices. This interview with Andreas Larsson, Best Sommelier of the World, gives a unique opportunity to get his opinion on this En Primeur Campaign as well as his view on the future of Bordeaux wines.

What do you think of the prices for En Primeur 2010 Bordeaux wines ?

Andreas Larsson: " Bordeaux delivers some of the best value in the world, such a treasure of great wines at moderate price levels. Unfortunately first growths are just a memory. The last vintage I bought was 2004. Today nor I or my restaurant or my clients can afford these wines. I am sure those chateaux would love to see their wines being drunk in restaurants. However there are only two kinds of clients who can buy these wines: the Very Rich and the Ultra Rich people. "

What do you think of the 2010 Vintage ?

AL: "It is too early to me. I do not consider myself capable of judging unfinished wines, six months after the harvest. I prefer to taste the wines when they are finished and available on the market. But I am sure it will be a very good vintage overall. The importance of the vintage is less evident than 20 years ago as good chateaux can produce excellent wines every year. And my job is to find the best wines from the best producers regardless of the vintage. I am not a wine critic, I am a wine lover.".

What is your view on the future of Bordeaux wines ?

AL: "It is a wonderful region with an unlimited potential. So many talented people and such an unlimited potential! It is one of the few regions in the world where you can make modern and concentrated wines and yet retain a good deal of freshness, a moderate level of alcohol with a unique quality of tannins. I simply love Bordeaux and apart from its historical reputation, I regard it as young, dynamic with so much to discover."

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Monsieur Robert Parker, Welcome on board of this EP2010 Bordeaux First Class flight! Please Fasten your Seatbelts, Turbulence ahead…

2011-06-17T12:58:00.002+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) (This is an executive summary from an exclusive VitaBella Luxury Wine report - From Guillaume Jourdan)

Version française: Cliquez ici.

Raising the price of a wine is not enough to make it a "luxury wine". Chateaux should also add a strong support to reach their ambitions. To my knowledge, I do not know any area in the luxury industry, except wine (excluding champagne), which strongly raises its prices but does not add any significant support to its brand. If the bottles of those famous chateaux are sold en Primeur at record prices, they will then have to go through the whole process (including all the considerations about margins) to reach the tables of wine lovers who will finally say to the sommelier: I want that bottle. With prices as high as those announced in recent days, this process is likely to become longer and longer. And some bottles may never find consumers... An exclusive VitaBella Luxury Wine Report analyzes three possible types of crisis and some measures chateaux should consider now.

"Bordeaux guru" Robert Parker recently said "it would be a mistake" to increase prices again. "If they come higher than 2009, we're going to have a big, big crisis" he said. He recommended to sell the 2010 vintage 10 to 20 percent lower than the 2009 vintage. He also said he was sad to see in his country, with a "weak dollar", the loss of market share for Bordeaux wines on restaurant menus and in wine shops as the prices seem too high."Bordeaux is the epicenter of the best wines in the world and I hate to see the image damaged by the fact people tend to think it's too expensive"."Bordeaux is focused too much on the wealthy Asian market" Parker said. "Despite the fact that China has so many wealthy people, it's a very dangerous game if they raise prices, because the world economy is very, very fragile."

How could we analyze this situation?

1) "The emergence of a bubble" : Will an increase in the price of 2010s lead to the emergence of a bubble or are we already "in the bubble"? In fact, in my own experience, when I start reading articles from experts who explain the emergence of a bubble, this usually means that the existing bubble will burst very soon... My personal view is that we are already in the bubble Robert Parker is talking about. This bubble developped over the last few years with the strong price increases and with the speculation on some big names (Lafite Rothschild...). In fact, I believe the emergence of the bubble is not in front of us, but behind us.

2) "If they come higher than 2009, we're going to have a big, big crisis." Crisis, but what crisis ? Three types of crisis could be defined:

- The crisis of the "mid-range price" wines: Unfortunately as we can see in many industries, the mid-range market is suffering terribly. Many Chateaux, which are part of this mid-range market, have increased their prices dramatically. The crisis described by Robert Parker will have a direct impact on those wines. Regarding the few top wines, adding 100 euros to the final price won't make any difference.

- The "transition" crisis : The world of wine is changing with an increasing volatility and uncertainty on this market. Chateaux must adapt. There will be turbulence as in any industry that is experiencing significant changes in its own environment. If, on one hand, there has never been so much uncertainty, on the other hand there has never been so many opportunities. New markets open and they are buoyant. Faced by this apparent paradox, top chateaux must now consider that uncertainty is a constant and will have to change how they plan for the future. Change is a continuous challenge in the corporate world. Top Bordeaux wines are now experiencing the same and should prepare for turbulences. Financial markets have seen a tremendous increase in volatility over the last 20 years. It will now happen for top Bordeaux wines. What did financial markets do? They adapted to volatility. Top Bordeaux wines will have to do the same and adapt to this new environment.

- The "counterfeit wine" crisis: With soaring prices, counterfeit art has been around for centuries. With the rising prices of wines in the 70s, counterfeiting has grown. The recent price boom may lead to an explosion of fakes. And like in art, the ones which will be mostly impacted will have all the ingredients to appeal to counterfeiters: volume, international recognition, rated among the highest. And like in art (art counterfeiting generates an illicit trade valued at about € 6 billion per year), fake wines will be increasingly difficult to detect. Think about it: over half of the art deco furniture (sold at high prices) in circulation could be false...

3) Some ideas to be successful in this new environment

- Lowering prices as would recommend Parker with a drop of 10% to 20%? It is actually too late. And if, in fact, we are facing a big, big crisis, I would have some doubts about the significant impact that a reduction from 10 to 20% on the 2010 En Primeur prices could have.

- Thinking beyond scores and supporting the brand like champagne houses have done for 30 years. At these price levels (unheard of in Bordeaux), only referring to the score of a renowned expert is not enough to explain the price of a wine. It is a fact that a great score confirms the exceptional quality of the wine according to the expert's point of view. But at the price levels achieved in recent days, the wine lover expects something else that is still rarely proposed today. Champagne houses are doing this very well and great champagne can be sold at high prices (with a high volume) through an effective marketing and communication approach.

- Acquire new competencies : The world we live in today is more volatile than ever. What the future will bring appears to be anybody's guess. In fact, the future is taking shape around us and by taking a closer look at the changes in action today, we can predict what the world of tomorrow will be like. Top chateaux must have a look at the forces that are dramatically reshaping the world of luxury wines and consider what to plan ahead to reinforce their positions globally and build stronger brands. Mastering global communication and brand marketing is part of the skills they need to gain if they want to adapt to this new volatile environment.

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) (This is an executive summary from an exclusive VitaBella Luxury Wine report - From Guillaume Jourdan)

Vinexpo 2011, Brand Strategy, Usher…An Interview with the CEO of Champagne de Venoge

2011-06-15T10:43:00.003+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) From 90 to 97/100 in Wine Spectator and with many other top scores in international wine magazines, Champagne de Venoge collected honours from wine experts over the last ten years. Let’s come back on this success story with four questions adressed to Gilles de la Bassetière, CEO of the Champagne House de Venoge.

Champagne de Venoge recently published "Noblesse Oblige". Could you tell us more about this book?

"It was important for Champagne de Venoge's lovers as well as for the brand itself to come back on a such long and beautiful history. From Sarah Bernardht to the American singer Usher, including Bo Derek, the history of Champagne of Venoge is summarized in a magnificient book signed by the historian and writer Patrick de Gmeline. It is related to the women and the men who built the great history of our House and also describes the extraordinary life of an exclusive Champagne brand. This book gives a beautiful vision of the singular style of our champagnes and more specifically of the Cuvee des Princes and Cuvee Louis XV. So many stories and photographs which remind us that, since 1837, Champagne de Venoge always enjoyed a contemporary life without forgetting its noble origins."

How would you explain the success of Champagne de Venoge since its creation?

"At the beginning, a family decided by passion to create a champagne which would set up new standards. Recognizable by the blue ribbon called "Cordon Bleu", our champagnes played a major model role in the 1930's for all our competitors. Then, over the years, people became more and more knowledgeable about Champagne and de Venoge pursued its efforts to improve quality and maintain the House style. We developped in Europe, in the USA and in Asia but our clients are looking for the same great experience and great taste that de Venoge brought to the first customers. Consequently maintaining traditional methods in our daily work may be a major part of our success which is confirmed each time I share a bottle of Champagne de Venoge with a group of connoisseurs."

How would you see the brand in the next few years?

"Maintaining the de Venoge's style and the high level of quality are the two major objectives we are focusing on. So considering this high level of expectations, we do not intend to dramatically increase our production. Moreover, in those times when people tend to switch from one brand to another, Champagne de Venoge has a rare chance to have faithful customers. Noblesse oblige, de Venoge is a brand which built a strong relationship with professionals and private consumers. We appreciate this confidence but we never should take it from granted and will continue to offer top cuvées such as Louis XV Rosé or Blanc de Blancs Vintage to show how great the potential of our Champagne House is."

What do you expect from Vinexpo 2011, the international wine fair in Bordeaux that will start next Sunday?

"Noblesse oblige, Champagne de Venoge will celebrate the launch of the new vintage of Cuvée Louis XV at Vinexpo. After having spent 15 years in the cellars of Epernay, this 1996 vintage will be finally presented in a beautiful packaging and in its famous «carafe» bottle. This moment in history will remind us that, on the 25th May 1728, Louis XV of France made viticultural history by issuing a decree allowing only the wines of Champagne to be both shipped and marketed in bottle. In celebration of the ‘founder’ of Champagne, Champagne de Venoge have named the release of the prestige cuvée ‘Louis XV’. A blend of 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay, this wine is a beautiful symbol of the great and long history of de Venoge Champagne House. Another intense moment will be the celebration of our prestigious oenotheque located in the heart of Epernay. We will open the doors of our cellar at Vinexpo with a tasting of some prestigious vintages that became references in the world of fine wines. Some Extra-Brut 1983, Extra-Brut 1985, Vintages 1986, 1988, 1989 and 1990 will be presented to reveal the unique style of this house founded in 1837."

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Jean Merlaut, Chateau Gruaud Larose : « I do not want this moment of pleasure to be overshadowed by the price. »

2011-06-14T10:28:00.000+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) As announced by Decanter magazine, Chateau Gruaud Larose, "a second-growth and the highest-profile property to declare its price in the slowest en primeur campaign for at least ten years" has released its price for the 2010 vintage on Tuesday 7 June. "Le Vin des Rois, Le Roi des Vins", as defined by Abbe Gruaud in the 18th century, has indeed a special place in the heart of wine lovers who look for Saint Julien with an extraordinary aging potential. Jean Merlaut, owner of Chateau Gruaud Larose, discusses the 2010 En Primeur campaign.

Version française: Cliquez ici.

Could you tell us more about the 2010 En Primeur campaign for chateau Gruaud Larose?

Jean Merlaut: ""The 2010 vintage of Chateau Gruaud Larose has been proposed en Primeur to international buyers on June 7th and I can already tell you that it is a success for several reasons. Firstly, the entire Gruaud Larose team considers that this 2010 vintage is exceptional. Its quality is a continuation of the recent vintages we have done. We must recognize that the work done in the vineyards and the rigorous selection of grapes has given outstanding results. I look forward to tasting this 2010 in hundred years as we do from time to time with our older vintages..."

What is your view on this 2010 En Primeur campaign for Gruaud Larose wines?

JM: "The En Primeur campaign for our wines is doing very well for several reasons. First, the 2010 vintage at Chateau Gruaud Larose comes in small volume. There are 30% cases missing compared to an average year, due to a small crop in 2010. Concentration was excellent but grapes gave very little juice. It's hard for us not to offer more wines to the market but this is actually the case for 2010. But at no point, I wanted to increase the price of our wines because of this loss. Every year, all our efforts combine to give pleasure to wine lovers and I do not want this moment of pleasure to be overshadowed by the price. I always wanted Chateau Gruaud Larose to be an exceptional wine at an acceptable price. By "acceptable", I mean first acceptable for the people, particularly in Europe and the United States, who have always bought Gruaud Larose bottles for their cellars and who open them regularly. By this term "acceptable", I also mean I want to give to the largest number of fine wine lovers in the world a chance to open a bottle of Gruaud Larose and appreciate it. For me, this is the definition of what a great wine should be."

At what price was it released?

JM: "At 45 euros, up 15% on last year, you would agree that Gruaud Larose 2010 was released at a decent price. At this price, I know that the cellars in France, England, Germany, Belgium and in the United States, where Gruaud Larose was always prominently displayed, will continue to receive some of our 2010 wines. And it is also true for the "new cellars", including those in China. In this region, Gruaud Larose is successful and buyers are particularly fond of our old vintages."

What conclusion could you draw from this excellent 2010 En Primeur Campaign?

JM: "As a conclusion, I would simply point out that not only the exceptional wine but also our second wine, Sarget de Gruaud Larose, were successful. At 12 euros per bottle, I let you imagine the success met by this second wine. With the qualitative efforts that were made over the last twenty years, Sarget de Gruaud Larose has reached in 2010 the level of quality of the Gruaud Larose wines made twenty years ago. So Gruaud Larose as well as Sarget de Gruaud Larose will continue to be appreciated, which makes us happy every day at Chateau Gruaud Larose."

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Chateau Latour, Mouton Rothschild, La Mission Haut Brion and Quinta Vale Dona Maria performed brilliantly...

2011-06-03T09:20:00.002+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Chateau Latour, Mouton Rothschild, La Mission Haut Brion and Quinta Vale Dona Maria performed brilliantly in the blind tasting "Best of Portugal against Best of France" held in Hong Kong. On the 24th May 2011, The Sovereign Art Foundation hosted a special blind wine tasting to showcase the best of Portugal against the best of France in the 2007 vintage. A judging panel was set up and chaired by Simon Tam, Hong Kong’s foremost wine critic who sat alongside Charles Curtis MW, head of Asia wine sales for Christie’s, Nigel Bruce, publisher of several wine books and member of The Hong Kong Wine Society, Filipe Santos, President of the Wine Society in Macau, Paulo Pong from Altaya Wines and Benoit Allauzen, head sommelier from L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Hong Kong.

Guests purchased tickets to attend the event that evening with the proceeds going to The Sovereign Art Foundation. The money raised will go towards supporting the programmes in Cambodia, India and elsewhere which use art as therapy and rehabilitation for disadvantaged children. Each of the 13 wines were scored out of 20- as in the original Paris tasting. The Paris Tasting of 1976 (now the subject of the Hollywood film “Bottleshock”) will forever be remembered as the event that transformed the wine industry.

The judges ranked the wines in the following order: 1. Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Lynch Bages (score: 110) 2. Chateau La Mission Haut Brion (score: 107) 3. Chateau Latour (score: 106.5) 4. Quinta Vale Dona Maria and Chateau Leoville Barton (score: 106)

On the excellent blog www.agoodnose.com, you can find some detailed information about Cristiano Van Zeller (picture), owner of Quinta Vale Dona Maria : "As a Douro Boy, Cristiano van Zeller is no Third Man. He was the original catalyst for gathering together like-minded friends in the mid to late nineties, and by design, it was he who formed an occasional unified force to effect joint winemaking promotion. This informal association created a springboard for enlarging and consolidating a mutual team effort, ultimately leading to formation of the Douro Boys with families Roquette, Olazabal and Ferreira, and more latterly, the burgeoning New Douro movement..."

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Too Much Alcohol in Wine or Too Many Wines with Imperfect Balance ?

2011-05-31T13:10:00.001+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Fine wine and High-alcohol. Wine journalists consider it is time to write about this subject. Jon Bonne from San Francisco Chronicle decided to print the listed alcohol levels of each wine he recommends in the Food & Wine section. Britain's Decanter magazine also started to publish alcohol levels beginning in May. Why did they decide to do so ? SF Chronicle explains this move by suggesting "Our decision comes at a time when it is harder than ever to understand the implications of alcohol in wine."

This move confirms a general concern from consumers who ask for more information on the wines they drink. Giving more information about what's in the wine is very useful. Starting next year, some wines in Canada will carry a warning label with the words “Contains Eggs, Fish, or Dairy". In fact, some customers would like full nutritional information on the bottles - calories, sodium, carbohydrate, protein, fat and alcohol. Why not? It is on practically every other food and beverage. So, in that sense, knowing about alcohol content is a good information regarding wine. But does it say much about the wine itself ?

Sometimes I taste wines that contain 13.5 % alcohol and I find them burning. Then I taste a wine with 15% and alcohol is perfectly integrated in a fresh wine. Finding the balance of a wine, that is the key role of a successful winemaker. Without artifice. Take the example of the 2010 vintage in Bordeaux, a year that the world celebrated as one of the greatest vintages. This special year brought concentrated grapes, with full flavors and degrees that exceeded 15% for some vineyards. After tasting en Primeurs, the world realized that the greatest wines, even if they had a high alcohol content, had succeeded in keeping a perfect balance. The best successes in 2010 showed that alcohol was beautifully integrated even if its presence was important. However, some chateaux have found the balance of their 2010 wines at a lower level of alcohol. It was the case, for example, of Chateau Margaux with a surprising 13.5%. The choice of the winemakers was paramount.

Each year and everywhere in the world, the greatest winemakers have the extraordinary ability to find the ideal balance for their wines. In California, a Ridge Montebello Cabernet from Paul Draper or a Pinot Noir from Ted Lemon's Littorai are delicious wines. Their owners have found the perfect balance with alcohol and those wines often reach 13.5% - 14%. It's a fact! For a consumer, choosing a wine based on its alcohol level would be too simplistic. Especially since the wine is not made for tasting immediately. Each wine has its own life that sometimes gives an extra chance to alcohol for a better expression. Consider two examples. For some wine lovers, alcohol can interfere with Port. I feel so when I taste unbalanced Ports, with the unpleasant feeling that this alcohol burns my palate. But a great Port, such as a perfectly balanced Quinta do Noval Nacional 1994, delivers a silky feeling on the palate, even at an early stage. And, after tasting old vintages, we understand this alcohol gives a great pleasure after a few decades. Second example: Let's consider Chateauneuf du Pape, some of which are unbalanced and reveal a particularly disturbing alcohol. But others (with the same level of alcohol as the former ones) reveal great balance and get an extra dimension which could have never been revealed without the presence of this alcohol. Moreover, that alcohol becomes of a rare subtlety when those balanced wines have the chance to spend some 10-15 years in a cellar. In fact alcohol, balance and aging make up a whole.

Gone are the days for strong in alcohol, intense jammy, fruit forward wines. Very seductive in the beginning with overripe flavors, these wines are now boring for most wine drinkers. In fact, this trend is international and does not only concern mature markets. So, will it be helpful to print in magazines the listed alcohol levels of each wine recommended? Certainly, but not only for consumers. I am convinced that this will also result to raise awareness to the whole wine industry that we enter a new era in wine consumption. The message is clear: consumers want better food pairing wines and not those old fashioned, over-concentrated, over-oaked, burning wines strong in alcohol.

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

An English Wine in New York, Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo, London…

2011-05-30T12:03:00.001+02:00

Version française : "A nous les petites bulles anglaises !".

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) New York, Paris, Shanghai, New Delhi, London ... Let's all celebrate the English Wine Week which just started this Saturday. Let's drink English and let's open our mind to places that some people are unfortunately still considering of minor importance. "What an idea to drink English?" could you ask me. "But what an idea to drink French, Australian or American" I would answer...Wine has no frontier, even if it is true that wine has a long history and tradition in some specific countries. But we can make wine all over the world. Lebanon, Thailand, China, India, France, Italy, Spain...In all these numerous countries, I discovered vineyards, new tastes, different stories and great visions about wine. Always different and always amazing. But still a common point in all these countries: you meet crazy and passionate vignerons who only think about making people happy, giving pleasure to those who drink their wines.

These vignerons exist in England like anywhere else in the world. Have a good english sparkling, have a Nyetimber or a Ridgeview. Delicious, these wines give a real pleasure and I invite you to celebrate this week by discovering those sparkling wines. Of course, English are not the only ones to produce good sparkling. Enjoy a sparkling from Tasmania, like an old vintage from Jansz - in the early 90s - and you'll be impressed. Have a Franciacorta from the italian winemaker Lorenzo Gatti, particularly his Saten 2006 from Chardonnay and Pinot noir, and you will have a wish: taste it again. But I feel England is not enough recognized as a country producing excellent sparkling bottles and some other wines as well. This English wine Week is an excellent way of promoting this country and those wines.

The world of the English wine is bubbling. Michel Chapoutier, who heads the largest biodynamc wine estate in Europe and who is also winemaker in Australia, recently told the British magazine Decanter he was looking for land to make wine in England. England moves and can now be proud of its production. With some friends, our choice has already been done for this English wine Week. Let's drink English bubbles! Let's have fine and delicate UK rosé wines! Go on England!

Loire Valley Wine, Count Henry d’Assay : « I decided not to bottle both cuvees 101 Rangs and Haute Densite in the 2009 vintage »

2011-05-20T11:32:00.001+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Loire Valley: Count Henry d'Assay, owner of Chateau de Tracy in Pouilly Fume, gave us an interview about the three consecutive vintages 2008, 2009 and 2010.

How would you define those three years in Pouilly Fume?

Count Henry d'Assay: "2008, 2009 and 2010 are three consecutive vintages with different and clearly identifiable characters. Of course, considering our two cuvees Haute Densite (100% limestone) and 101 Rangs (100% flint), 2008 and 2010 are the wines that I love for their purity, focus and outstanding aging potential. As I considered not to have reached this exceptional achievement in 2009, I decided not to produce those two cuvees. The Grand Vin du Chateau de Tracy has the great privilege to benefit from these rare cuvees for the final assemblage of the 2009 vintage."

Let's come back to 2010. How would you define 2010 at Chateau de Tracy?

"The 2010 vintage is a great balance between concentration and distinction. A concentration both in terms of structure and aromas. For the structure, mature grapes gave us a good alcohol level together with a fine and long acidity. It gave to the wines a lot of freshness and a very long finish. Regarding aromas, from the beginning when we started harvesting, grapes were very tasty with aromas of exotic fruits. The juices, straight from the press, were already full of strong aromas of guava and mango. After fermentation, the elegance, the power and the precision of those wines were very evident. We are particularly impressed to have a high level of quality on both terroirs, I mean chalk and silex soils. Chalk soils are showing wines with a rich and round structure. The acidity gives them, in 2010, a supplementary hint of light, I would say. Silex soils show particularly expressive aromas this year. Tense and powerful, the wines tend to express themselves like in any great year. Ageing potential will not be a problem at all for those wines."

Why did you decide not to bottle your two cuvees in 2009?

"Definitely Haute Densite, our wine made from high-density planted vines on chalk soils, and 101 Rangs, our very limited wine made from old vines planted on a spectacular silex soil, always show the impressive potential we can get at Chateau de Tracy. But my expectations for those two cuvees are very high. And in 2009, after long tastings and discussions, I decided to have them in the final assemblage of our Grand Vin and not to bottle them separately. Regarding 2008 and 2010, I really consider both cuvees exceptional."

2008, 2009 and 2010...What vintage do you prefer?

"It is really difficult to say...The 2010s are focused, aromatic, classic, fresh and rich at the same time. The 2009s are big, silky and creamy. I am particularly amazed by the great differences between these three vintages. And 2008 is currently showing the great potential we could notice from the beginning. Since we harvested, we understood we had an impressive power in these wines. They are full bodied and at the same time very fresh. Some aromas like truffle remind me of the great 1996s we are serving now at the chateau. In 2008, ageing potential for both Haute Densite and 101 Rangs is impressive. There is always a specific tension in Chateau de Tracy and 101 Rangs which makes the wines very long and pure. so it is difficult for me to choose a favourite one between those three vintages. But 2010 reinforces our conviction that blending both grapes coming from chalk and silex soils is a great opportunity to make powerful, complex, elegant and long ageing wines with a lot of distinction."

Bordeaux 2010 en Primeur: Should Wine Investment Funds buy Yquem and Sauternes?

2011-05-18T08:24:00.001+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Fine wine fund managers, private collectors...I received a great amount of e-mails concerning my recent editorial "Fine Wine Investment Funds: What should they learn from the past to make Great Returns over the Next 10 Years?". In fact, I understood there was a huge reflexion nowadays on that topic and directions taken by decision makers were not all the same. Of course, results will differ over the next few years (when I write results, I mean return on investment here) but there were some very convincing ideas including a suggestion recently made by a wine fund management specialist: buy the exclusive and underpriced Chateau d'Yquem.

Chateau d'Yquem, the next Lafite? Lunzer Wine Investments predicts rapid rise in value of investments in Chateau d'Yquem. In fact, Lunzer analyzed the impact expected on the wine investment market place less than six months since the announcement that the sweet wines of Bordeaux can be imported into China officially. This fine wine fund management specialist predicts the change means Chateau d'Yquem will become the next big winner for the wine investment market. Wine expert Peter Lunzer, who invented the concept of the Wine Price Ratio, is tipping it could even outperform the current favourite wine in China - Chateau Lafite.

"Chateau d'Yquem is probably the best known of the sweet Bordeaux wines which have not been allowed to be officially imported into China due to their large amounts of natural, residual sugar when compared to other wines which exceeded the limit set by the Chinese authorities. However, now these rules have been relaxed, we believe that demand for these sweet Bordeaux wines will skyrocket. From our experience, Chinese wine buyers have a massive appetite to acquire top quality brands so given Chateau d'Yquem's heritage, and the fact that it has a very limited production with an average of only 60,000 bottles produced each year, we believe it can only get more expensive," said Peter Lunzer, Chief Executive and Chief Investment Officer of Lunzer Wine Investments. Lunzer continued: "I expect the price of the good vintages - including 1990, 1996, 1997, 2001 and 2007- to double over the next few years and that this wine could challenge the high prices of other fine wines such as Chateau Lafite."

Interestingly, the 2004 remains un-scored by renowned wine critic Robert Parker and so, despite its exceptional quality, languishes below the radar. With such an interesting potential for the future, they have been including a greater than normal proportion of Chateau d'Yquem in the portfolios they have acquired for recent investors.

In May 2010, the "Liquid Gold Collection" from Chateau d'Yquem became one of the most expensive lots of wine ever sold in Asia during a Christie's auction in Hong Kong. This collection of 128 bottles and 40 magnums was the largest collection of Chateau d'Yquem ever to come to auction. In fact, if what Lunzer says proves to be right, this phenomenom will have a larger impact on the Sauternes market as a whole. Considering depreciated prices for current vintages of top Sauternes wines as well as for old vintages currently sold at auctions, there could be a strong leverage effect that could boost prices and make this market alive again, after decades of "quiet evolution". In Finance, we call it contrarian and in history some contrarians made huge gains by investing, before others, in underrated company shares. Right time to bring a contrarian strategy into your wine portfolio holdings to boost overall performance?

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Naked Wines and Ryanair : Rethinking the whole Value Chain and Leveraging on Digital

2011-05-17T15:19:00.000+02:00

In UK, Online retailer Naked Wines announced at London wine Fair it was launching a scheme to put winemakers directly in touch with wine drinkers. In fact, what Naked Wines are doing is about changing a business model that has been successful over the last decades or more. Naked Wines want to be the low cost wine provider for all customers who want to drink wines at an affordable price. Affordable or more precisely at a more adequate price as an increasing range of the population is complaining, sometimes feeling "ripped off" and having difficulties to find good values.

So what Naked wines decided to doin UK is just simple as that: Rethinking the entire value chain of the wine selling business with a new point of view. Through its online marketplace, winemakers will be able to pitch their wines direct to the company's 150,000 members at a price the producers decide. For example, they may offer to sell a £20 wine for £15 a bottle, provided 1,000 people buy a case.To keep costs down, Naked Wines will take just 10% of the commission compared with the usual 40% or more. This is exactly what "rethinking the value chain" means: Rethinking margins on wine sales, mark-ups; Reconsidering the impact of increased pricing transparency and fierce international competition; Innovating with affiliate marketing, online promotion plans...To make it short, rethinking the way we are currently buying/selling wine.

With this new approach, consumers and wine producers are put at first in terms of priority. To make it work, Naked Wines have to make sure these people gain dramatically from this new value chain. Wine producers should get higher margins than they get in their current day to day operations and buyers should get a better offer & price. Rethinking the whole value chain is not new. Many businesses which started a few years ago from scratch have built their success on this approach. Naked wines may dream about being the Ryanair of the wine business in UK. It will take some time to understand how successful Naked Wines will be, but both companies leverage on the same platform to make it real: The Digital World.

A Bubbly Glocal Strategy for Moet: Well done Monsieur Arnault !

2011-05-16T14:24:00.001+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Moet, 66 percent owned by luxury goods group LVMH, has just announced plans to grow grapes for a "high-end sparkling wine" in Northwest China together with farm operator Ningxia Nongken. Moet Hennessy, makers of the flagship bubbly Moet Chandon and Dom Perignon champagne, the world's biggest champagne maker, said it will produce the bubbly at a winery it plans to build nearby the 66-hectare farm. This announcement was made just 3 months after Moet said it was buying grapes in India's wine heartland Nashik.

"Nothing new!", some would say. Roederer or Moet have already done the same in the USA about 30 years ago, and now sell their bubbles under US brand names (Roederer Estate, Chandon). True... but those champagne producers were already selling their bottles for a long time in US. Regarding Asia, it seems that this "glocal" strategy starts at a very early stage on both markets. In fact, in terms of sales progression, much earlier than in the United States of America. In Asia, Moet understood that a glocal approach was necessary to develop sales, more particularly in China or in India. And selling to chinese or indian consumers does not mean only selling on their national market. Think about all those who are living outside their country and who are eager of national products.

This strategy reminds me of Hermes, the successful luxury company in which Bernard Arnault has recently invested. Hermes' strategy to reach a bigger market share of the promising chinese luxury market is simple: Going glocal instead of going global. A few months ago, Hermes has launched a new brand, called Shang Xia (meaning “topsy-turvy” in Mandarin), in the lucrative Chinese market. Shang Xia includes ready-to-wear and decorative arts inspired by Chinese culture and traditions of craftsmanship. They are made using Chinese raw materials and artisanal know-how. This new brand is tailored for the Chinese market where Hermes lags behind its competitors. This move is not a matter of producing and offering cheaper products to the chinese markets. In fact, this move is about offering an alternative for chinese consumers to Hermes products. As China's tradition is anchored into a long history of talented artists who are appreciated by the entire nation, this move will certainly make Hermes even more successful in the future.

Moet adopted the same glocal strategy by investing locally to produce bubbles in two huge markets. But size is only one aspect as India and China share a same cultural aspect when it comes to wine: both have a tradition of growing grapes and making wine. For luxury wines, selling globally is essential and having your wine brand marketed internationally is key. This is the Global approach. Moet, like Hermes, decided to go differently and have set up plans for a powerful glocal approach. In fact, some Chinese consumers for luxury products have developed a taste for Champagne. A locally produced alternative thanks to a joint venture by leading French producer Moet Hennessy with a Chinese agricultural company will certainly attract a new range of consumers. A same approach was defined in India. Global luxury group LVMH's company Moet Hennessy has crushed about 150 tonne of grapes as it looks to come out with locally produced sparkling wines. With Moet, the glocal or "Shang Xia" approach is making progress in the world of fine wines. And it will certainly prove successful. Well done Monsieur Arnault !

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Interview Michel Chapoutier: « Young Riesling wines should not have a dominant petrol aroma »

2011-05-12T12:03:00.000+02:00

Interview Michel chapoutier: You recently said to UK magazine Decanter: The ‘petrol’ characteristics in Riesling are undesirable and constitute a fault in the wine. Could you give more details?

Version française: Cliquez ici.

Michel Chapoutier: "We should perhaps begin by defining what is termed "petrol". One can observe an important gradation among the family of these aromas. Great Rieslings can have aromas with age that some consider from the hydrocarbon family. I would call it more often a "dominant mineral development" and more importantly would define it as aromas of chalk (the memory of the school with the smell of the brush used to erase the blackboard). And for these chalk aromas, typical of the great Alsace wines as Clos St Hune or the great Rieslings from Mosel and the Nahe, I find it degrading and reductive to characterize this minerality with petrol aromas. When I talk about petrol aromas in some Riesling wines (which some consumers love and regard as characteristic of the grape), I really mean this dominant hydrocarbon (neither chalk nor mineral) that can dominate the wine aromas in its youth . When this part takes a dominant role, we can absolutely say that we are facing a defect in the wine. In the past, when the winemaker did not have the technical means and knowledge to master the pressing and racking (probably a significant portion of these Riesling wines had a petrol character), this aroma could be considered characteristic or typical. But through technical advances, this dominant aroma can become a hint and petrol can become chalk and minerality."

What conclusion would you draw from this comment?

MC: "It is interesting to ask the following question: if some characteristic taste of some wines are historically typical from this wine, do they do part of its tradition and typicity? If these tastes are the result of instability or a bacterial degradation, should they be considered part of cultural heritage of this wine?When I taste a delicious Jura "Vin jaune", I actually taste a wine for which oxidation and ethanalisation has been domesticated. But here, the alleged defect was so unanimous that winemakers sought to master it, make it into a rule which is now undeniable. I would not consider hydrocarbon aromas in young Riesling wines in the same category. And it is the same problem for those aromas of leather in red wines, which too often merely illustrate a contamination of brettanomyces. The same applies to the aroma of "cooking water of peas" in sweet wines which insinuate that "grey rot" was perhaps a little too present in the middle of the "noble rot". The generation of my grandparents were fond of "hot" cheeses and rancid sausages. The methods of vinification evolve to be more and more accurate and therefore the taste is changing and some so called typicities tend to be marginalized. As I am primarily a gourmand consumer, passionate about wine, I can confirm and maintain my point of view. So yes to this touch of mineral and chalk in riesling wines when they start ageing. But I confirm that young riesling wines should not have a dominant petrol aroma. Thanks again to the Decanter team who helped to launch this discussion and after reading comments from all over the world, I understand that unlike Vin Jaune, we are very far from finding a consensus on this issue. If some, following my comment on this defect in young riesling wines, understood that I was talking about old riesling wines: it has never been the case. And to celebrate this great discussion, we will open tonight a 1992 Clos Saint Hune with my wife... Cheers!."

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Luxury Wine and Palace distinction… A 5 star hotel is a 5 star hotel. A Palace is a unique experience.

2011-05-09T07:05:00.001+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Palace distinctions were announced this week in France and 8 luxury hotels were honoured. Critics arose and said that creating new distinctions beside the "1 to 5 star system" made it too complicated for international clients. This controversy immediately reminded me of the time when it was said that international consumers were demanding for a better readibility of wine labels especially on the high-end part. A change was needed in a way to make, for example, burgundy wines' names more approachable and understandable. Let's forget about Chambolle Musigny 1er cru Les Amoureuses or Chambolle Musigny 1er cru Les Cras and let's name them Chambolle Musigny 1er cru 100% Pinot Noir. But history tells that Luxury needs to take a different approach to avoid standardization.

Hotel du Palais (Biarritz), Les Airelles (Courchevel), Le Cheval Blanc (Courchevel, owned by Bernard Arnault), Le Bristol (Paris), Le Meurice (Paris), Park Hyatt (Paris), Plaza Athenee (Paris) and Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat (St Jean Cap Ferrat) are actually the first 8 palaces in France. In fact, I should write "in the world", as this distinction is only used in France. 'French Excellence" or "French Arrogance", this "appellation" pushed some experts to criticize the new system saying that luxury hotels do not need this category in a world where the internationalization of the clientele is increasing dramatically and also where "brand" counts first by far.

When I lstened to these critics, I could not help thinking of what was said about the "too complicated French appellation system in a world where international consumers need brands". The two subjects are very much related when we are considering the luxury market. Regarding luxury, there is a large diversity of consumers and some are now looking to get access to something different than only a luxury international standard.

The difference is huge and we could make it as simple as this statement: A 5 star hotel is a 5 star hotel. A Palace is a unique experience. And only when you have understood this difference, can you understand why it is so important for some luxury wine lovers to choose a Chambolle Musigny 1er cru Les Amoureuses rather than a Chambolle Musigny 1er cru Pinot Noir. Then they start talking about the differences between Les Amoureuses and Les Cras, then they explain the history of those places, then they talk about the different tastes...All of this makes the experience unique and memorable. And some clientele needs this luxury identity based on many different aspects including a sense of both cultural and national roots. This is what makes the Palace distinction unique in the world and very much sought after. This is what makes the complicated Appellation system (not only in France but also in Italy...) so unique and very much sought after by a clientele who loves luxury wines.

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Unsold this week: One third of lots at Christie’s International’s Wine Auction in Hong Kong

2011-04-14T10:36:00.001+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Hong Kong may start looking twice at fine wine prices...From Saturday to Sunday, 9 to 10 April, 2011, Christie's International offered a "Tour of Bordeaux" with exceptional Wines from The SK Networks Collection and a "Superb Collection of Rare Pétrus and Mature DRC".

This auction of "Finest & Rarest Wines" went unsold for around one-third of total lots. For the first time, in a recent period, unsold lots of fine wines reached a level which may signal a downturn in the chinese buyers' appetite. Is it a sign that the chinese market is giving a break to the spectacular strong demand recorded over the last 2 years? Or are chinese buyers becoming more selective? Or is it a first sign that luxury in china is entering a new era? In fact, in the world's second largest luxury goods market, a new ban on some luxury themes in outdoor advertising takes effect from April 15th, according to an announcement on the website of Beijing's industry and commerce bureau.This move could prove authorities' willingness to have more control on luxury products' promotion and consumption in order to avoid showiness which could arouse popular resentment. Social stability may be at stake in this new policy of controlling more strictly the promotion of luxury goods. Fine wines are entering this category and chinese buyers may have already anticipated a move which could have an impact in the future consumption of expensive wines. At this stage, the trend is not clear but scrutinizing next auctions' results should give more insights on which direction the market takes.

David Elswood, Head of Christie's International Wine Department, said, “The sales in Hong Kong over the two days of 9 and 10 April demonstrate a growing diversification in Asian buyers’ collecting tastes and buying habits. In addition, the New York sales on April 9th show a healthy comeback for the U.S. market. Together these overall results prove that demand for wines of the highest quality and provenance remains very strong around the world, and Asia remains a fast-moving and increasingly sophisticated market.”

Charles Curtis, MW, Head of Wine for Asia at Christie's, commented, “Our sale on April 9th and 10th saw continued growth in demand for older vintages, such as the superb collection of 60 years of Château Mouton-Rothschild from 1945 to 2005 (estimate: HK$400-600,000, sold HK$960,000), and an emerging interesting in the rarest Burgundies, in particular vintages from Romanée-Conti and La Tâche. While Asian buying made up the majority of our top lots, the extensive worldwide bidding, especially for the very top end of the spectrum, signals a welcome recovery of the global wine market and the attraction of Christie's Hong Kong wine sales as an important platform for international buyers to acquire the finest and rarest wines.”(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

The future of Bordeaux en Primeur: Are you ready to taste buds and score them?

2011-04-11T15:16:00.002+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Bordeaux Primeurs 2010 was an exciting time for those who took part to this event. Great dinners as usual with Chateau Gruaud Larose offering the most unbelievable experience to a few privileged ones with a vertical tasting from 2001 down to 1831 (yes, you read it right, we are talking here about wines from the nineteenth century). As Jeannie Cho Lee, a famous asian journalist, mentionned it, vintage 1921 was magnificent and 1961 gorgeous.

We also tasted great 2010s. A splendid range at Chateau Latour (Pauillac, Forts de Latour, Grand vin de Chateau Latour): this year, the gradual increase was so evident and reached such a high level! Also a delicate Chateau Margaux, with a "low level" of alcohol for the vintage (13.5% compared to the regular 14.5%), certainly due to a concern with the sensation of alcohol that we can feel in their 2006 and 2007. A very elegant Chateau Mouton Rothschild that may have reached, this year, the highest level of precision and complexity in a different style from precedent vintages (a more delicate and voluptuous style). There are many great wines inculding chateau Montrose, which is so classic and so "Montrose" that you wonder why they do not make such a wine every year. The answer is quite evident: 2010 is both exceptional and singular.

Bordeaux Primeurs 2010 were also exciting as a "polemical" point was suddenly raised by some. When should samples be tasted? How should this tasting be organized? Can some privileged ones taste the wines before others? Should an organization define an "embargo" date before which wine critics can not disclose any score?

In fact, what we see now is a race to be the first to disclose wine scores. First problem is that wine is a natural product and, as such, it needs time to reveal itself. It was particularly clear for 2010s and many chateaux declared they would have preferred to have those wines tasted at vinexpo in June. Second problem is that it is difficult to avoid some persons to set up meetings with chateau owners at a very early stage to write and score the new vintage. This situation, which was recently described, analyzed and criticized by some renowned jopurnalists reminds me of a situation, ten years ago, when financial analysts, after having pushed to get public companies publish their earnings on a quarterly basis, were starting dreaming of a monthly earning report. Dreadful! A nonsense if you consider that an analysis (here I am talking about shares as well as fine wines) should be supported by a long-term view to avoid making a decision too fast. Such a race to score fine wines at an early stage could simply lead us to a scenario like this one:

- First score at harvest time: critics would give scores to the grapes they tasted.

- Second score for juices: How promising are the juices? Splendid..let's go for a 99 points!

- Third score after fermentations.

- Fourth score when blend is done: the structure of the wine would be scored.

- Fifth score : Right before bottling the wine.

- Sixth score: The wine is released, offered on the market. Let's tatste it and score it!

At this point, if someone follows this score assessment model (let's call this person "Speedy Bob") it would be difficult to imagine another wine critic who could deliver more detailed scores at an earlier stage. Difficult but not impossible...Anyone ready to taste buds and score them? (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Peter Lunzer : « I expect the price of the good vintages of Sauternes Chateau d’Yquem to double over the next few years »

2011-03-23T05:35:00.003+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Fine wine fund managers, private collectors...We received a great amount of e-mails concerning the recent editorial "Fine Wine Investment Funds: What should they learn from the past to make Great Returns over the Next 10 Years?"posted on www.vitabella.fr . In fact, there is a huge reflexion nowadays on that topic and directions taken by decision makers are not all the same. Of course, results will differ over the next few years (when we write results, we mean return on investment) but there were some very convincing ideas including a suggestion recently made by a wine fund management specialist: Buy the exclusive and underpriced Chateau d'Yquem.

In May 2010, the "Liquid Gold Collection" from Chateau d'Yquem became one of the most expensive lots of wine ever sold in Asia during a Christie's auction in Hong Kong. This collection of 128 bottles and 40 magnums was the largest collection of Chateau d'Yquem ever to come to auction. In fact, if what Lunzer says proves to be right, this phenomenom will have a larger impact on the Sauternes market as a whole. Considering depreciated prices for current vintages of top Sauternes wines as well as for old vintages currently sold at auctions, there could be a strong leverage effect that could boost prices and make this market alive again, after decades of "quiet evolution". In Finance, we call it contrarian and in history some contrarians have made huge gains by investing, before others, in underrated company shares. Right time to bring a contrarian strategy into your wine portfolio holdings to boost overall performance? (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Chateau Grillet: Why regional players like Guigal or Perrin did not close the deal and why Pinault's offer was the most attractive?

2011-03-16T09:47:00.003+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Maybe the most delicate and precious wine for a luxurious aperitif, Condrieu is unique and, at its best, Chateau Grillet got its reputation for fine minerality that was a perfect pairing for food served at the once 3 star Michelin restaurant La Pyramide from Fernand Point. Those times are over and finally, French billionaire Francois Pinault, through his group Artemis acquired the 3.5ha monopole in the Northern Rhône.

During Chateau Grillet's "down period", Coteau de Vernon from Domaine Georges Vernay took the lead

After Jaboulet - acquired by Frey Family - an other family owned estate (since 1830) has been bought by a non regional investor. A 10,000 bottles production a year, Chateau Grillet is a very small domain which has unfortunately made some very disappointing wines over nearly 20 years (in the 80s and 90s). Sometimes oxydized, sometimes with a lack of precision, Chateau Grillet wines were not delivering what experts could have expected from viognier grapes planted in parcels as prestigious as those from Coteau de Vernon. After Bordeaux consultant Denis Dubourdieu joined in 2001, we perceived the strong efforts made to deliver the best expression of viognier grapes and a work done more particularly on the "reductive side" with a focus on fine minerality gave a renewal to those wines since the 2004 vintage. During Chateau Grillet's "down period", Coteau de Vernon from Domaine Georges Vernay took the lead and got the best scores in Condrieu from the most respected international wine critics.

Luxury comes to a price. Monopole too....

On sale for now some time, we could assume that some big names from the region were keeping an eye on this deal. Next door to the Condrieu AOC, Chateau Grillet forms its own wine-growing AOC and Pinault, who owns and heads the French retail group PPR, was certainly attracted by this monopole status. Investment group Artemis S.A., headed by son François-Henri, has always been keen on building a portfolio of unique wine estates. After first-growth Château Latour in Pauillac and Domaine d’Eugenie in Burgundy, here is Chateau Grillet in Rhone Valley.

Why big regional players did not close the deal?

But why regional big players like Guigal, Perrin or Jaboulet did not close the deal and why Pinault's offer for Chateau Grillet was the most attractive? Simply because potential acquirers did not share the same point of view when they had to consider the valuation of this estate. Regional players are into the Rhone wine business for long years and perceived Chateau Grillet as a key investment for its great terroir to make Condrieu. Roughly, they considered the value of the estate and the parcels. Pinault, who is more into the international luxury business, considered Chateau Grillet as a key investment to acquire a monopole estate that makes a unique wine but also took into account current undervalued intangible assets such as brand asset. And in luxury, brand is key and experienced marketing teams can easily bring value over a couple of years to any wine business with a great history and potential like Chateau Grillet. At this point, the different views of potential acquirers on the future business make a big difference in future sales expectations and profit margins written in 5 years' business plans. This, of course, impacted directly the Net Present Value (NPV) calculated by bidders to make an offer to the family. Looking at Chateau Grillet with "luxury business" lenses while others have "Rhone Valley wine business" lenses can simply make the difference at the end. Well done Monsieur Pinault! (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Potential acquirers for Champagne Piper & Charles Heidsieck may include LVMH with Thienot Group or Lanson BCC with Investors: Two « Best Fits »?

2011-02-21T08:22:00.002+01:00

(This editorial is the executive summary of an exclusive VitaBella report)(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) At the time when COFCO Wines & Spirits, a subsidiary of COFCO (chinese largest food processor, manufacturer and trader), is announcing a new acquisition in Bordeaux and global luxury group LVMH's company Moet Hennessy, in a first-time move, has crushed about 150 tonnes of grapes in India, Champagne makes its slow revolution with the soon-to-come announcement of the Piper & Charles Heidsieck acquisition deal. After a first analysis - on December on www.vitabella.fr - of potential non-French acquirers, let's now focus on two French collaborations (LVMH with Champagne Thienot and Lanson BCC with investors) which could finally make the deal. Should we consider it as a "French Affair" or as a perfect strategic and financial match? In fact, both associations would make sense but sometimes for different reasons...

LVMH / Thienot Group

1) Makes sense as LVMH is looking for new grapes sourcing contracts. In fact, listed company LVMH has recently prepared the financial market and said that there could be a "Champagne shortage". So it's high time to buy new parcels and get more grapes to secure the next sales made by a powerful distribution network.

2) This association makes sense as LVMH is mostly interested in securing grapes sourcing contracts and less in acquiring new brands. LVMH"s Strategy is about strengthening an already large brand portfolio and not broadening it. Prices and margins are key focuses in the future.

3) The historical roots of Thienot Group are in Champagne. Thienot Family has already developped a brand portfolio with Canard Duchene, Marie Stuart and of course Champagne Thienot. Financially, the group recently invested heavily in CVBG to get access to grands cru wines from Bordeaux. Strategically, in terms of image, it is crystal clear Thienot group wants to go more up-market either in Bordeaux or in Champagne. Consequently, after the clever acquisition of CVBG, it would make sense that "A grand house of today " - as they name themselves - invests in a widely recognized Champagne brand. And in this particular situation they would get two, with the "up-market boutique" Charles Heidsieck champagne brand and the globally renowned Piper Heidsieck brand which is currently quite successful in terms of image with the top Rare Cuvee.

Lanson BCC / Investors

1) Association would make sense as an "investors only deal" would rapidly may be confronted to a lack of a strong "Champagne related support" that would secure and strengthen existing grapes sourcing contracts, make the day-to-day operations work properly and also sell bottles through an existing distribution network.

2) Also makes sense as listed company Lanson BCC has a great experience in integrating big companies (The management team worked on the Lanson integration into the entire group and this can certainly be considered a major achievement when we look at the excellent future prospects for Lanson BCC).

3) Makes sense as Lanson BCC continues its expansion and is always interested in considering new opportunities for strengthening sales and developping new markets.

Any non-French company could acquire Piper and Charles Heidsieck, but it appears that both French associations look very attractive and "well fitted". Now let's think about "what's Next?". After the acquisition, those who buy parcels and get grapes sourcing contracts will get prepared for a future "champagne shortage". And those who buy assets and liabilities will have to focus on value maximization which is first of all a matter of achieving great results on a day-to-day operational level. Just considering brand assets, the new marketing team will have to play without the "third Heidsieck key", the Heidsieck Monopole brand owned by Vranken. It will certainly make future brand marketing plans for Piper and charles Heidsieck more complicated. Confusion among consumers may continue to exist. And, for this reason, the future repositioning of both brands may be at risk. (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

QR Code or Microsoft Tag…Wine Estates take to Mobile Devices for Social Media but what Technology should they use?

2011-02-15T08:59:00.001+01:00

(This editorial is the executive summary of an exclusive VitaBella report)(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) QR Code, a strange name for wine promotion...You may already have seen these 2D bar codes, a black-and-white industrial look of a standard bar code. They can be found on shelf-takers, bottle-neckers or wine list stickers and consumers with smartphones can quickly and easily scan a bottle of wine that catches their eye to get more information about the wine, the winery, recommended food pairings and much more. In fact, it is a very good idea to promote a winery and its wines with this new technology and there will certainly be competitive initiatives in the future.

PSFK, a marketing trend service, has recently released a report on “The Future of Mobile Tagging.” They analyzed the future use of technologies that include QR codes, barcodes and Microsoft Tags in branding activity and communication campaigns. They mentionned mobile tags offer a unique opportunity for brands to interact with potential and existing customers. "The two dimensional barcodes can be applied to almost any surface and the information contained within them can be leveraged to create incentives and drivers that lead consumers along the purchase path. By bridging the online-offline divide with a click of a mobile phone button, mobile tags can drive a brand or product’s awareness."

And Microsoft is getting into this market with a powerful new offer, Microsoft Tag. Microsoft Tag is a dynamic and no-cost solution to enhance marketing campaigns. Wineries can create a unique personality and customize interactive experiences with customers. Wineries can also create standard or custom Tags for brochures, ads, catalogs, in-store displays, posters, business cards, or just whenever they want a unique design. With Microsoft Custom Tags, the code can be integrated into the look and form of the messaging itself.

In fact, Microsoft is pitting its Microsoft Tag technology against the QR Code, which is an open industry standard, originally created in Japan. USA Today is using this technology and readers can scan a tag to be directed to online videos, photo galleries or updated financial and sports news. Universal Pictures also adopted the Microsoft's version of the QR code, the "3D barcode" for the launch of a new film. Smartphone users can interact with full-page ads in magazines and have access to a large content.

A number of publishers have been looking at the use of these kinds of tags for some time. Mostly, mobile barcodes have been pretty successful in Japan, but have been slow to catch on in the rest of the world. But as smartphone (Apple’s iPhone, BlackBerry and Android devices) penetration increases, the use of tags will certainly become more prominent. Wineries should leverage on this new technology ang get a modern approach in their marketing strategy. But before choosing between QR Codes or Microsoft Tags, they must get prepared to invest some time and money before getting any return on this new technology...(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Tignanello and Solaia, a Pure Definition of Luxury Wine by Antinori

2011-02-09T10:37:00.001+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). Tenuta Tignanello, with its famous Tignanello and Solaia vineyards, is situated between the Greve and Pesa valleys in the heart of Chianti Classico exactly between the little villages of Monteridolfi and Santa Maria a Macerata, 30km south of Florence. Tignanello covers 350 hectares of land, 147 of which are planted with vineyards, These are divided into small plots: the Tignanello vineyard covers 47 hectares with the 10-hectare Solaia alongside. These lands derive from Pliocene marl, with shaly, chalky elements, and are situated at an altitude of 350-450m, enjoying warm days and cool nights during the growing phase.

The native Sangiovese variety and the non-native Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc varieties are planted at Tignanello. There is also a small quantity of white grapes - Malvasia and Trebbiano - used in the production of Vinsanto. Other non-native varieties grown at Tignanello include small quantities of Syrah, Pinot Nero and Merlot, planted experimentally in the Seventies. Antinori initially experimented with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in the Twenties, but these varieties were then abandoned during the Second World War; they were replanted in the Sixties and began to be used commercially in the Seventies. The grapes are picked in about three weeks, between the end of September and early October and crushed and fermented on the estate. Afterwards the wine is aged in the old cellars below Villa Tignanello.

The 16th century villa on the estate was built on the foundations of one dating back to 1346, when the land belonged to the Buondelmonti (like much of the Val di Pesa). The estate was later taken over by the Niccolini who renamed it Poggio Niccolini, and in later years it was purchased and resold by various local aristocratic families. In the 17th century it passed to a cadet branch of the Medici family, who named it Fonte dei Medici, and subsequently to the Antinoris in the mid-19th century.

In this beautiful environment, Tignanello and Solaia are grown, made into wine and aged at Tignanello while other grapes grown on the estate are used in the production of Santa Cristina, Villa Antinori and Tenute Marchese Antinori. In his artistic-historical guide of the town of Sancasciano Val di Pesa (1892), Carocci describes Tignanello (now a large estate with extensive vineyards) as one of the highest and most picturesque points of the whole area. On the top of the hill, a scenic position rich in plantlife, stands a small group of houses, some of which are very old indeed. A splendid tuscan scenery for a beautiful wine story recognized internationally. (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

Champagne Pol Roger 1914: What makes a Luxury Wine...Extraordinary?

2011-01-31T10:31:00.001+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) At first, you may say that a champagne is extraordinary because the taste of this luxury wine is just...extraordinary. "Taste is the one sense that brings the greatest enjoyment" great food-lover Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin once said. But Taste is very relative, controlled by the cerebral cortex and strongly influenced by culture. Therefore, taste varies enormously from each person. On the day I tasted Pol Roger 1914 with champagne experts, we all shared the same enthusiasm: " It's fresh, elegant, intense with delicate bubbles. How can it be so lively after 97 years?. This champagne is really extraordinary."

What makes this champagne so lively is not only its taste. Hubert de Billy, from the owning family, made it lively when he explained that "it was disgorged in 1934 and that it can age for long years still." Yes, you read it right, this champagne was disgorged around 80 years ago and does not go into this fashionable category of RD champagnes (RD meaning Recently Disgorged) that we can find now on the market. This is an OD Champagne (OD does not mean "Oh my Dear" even if Winston Churchill could have said so if he had put his nose in the glass but OD would mean literally Old Disgorgement). In fact, tasting a RD 100 years old champagne is by itself unique but tasting a 100 years old champagne disgorged in 1934 makes the experience even more extraordinary.

How can Pol Roger still have these old vintages in their cellar?

"After 1924, the economy in Champagne was much better" commented Hubert de Billy. "Pol Roger developped its business and in 1934 we opened our new celliers at 34 Avenue de Champagne, still a landmark building in the town. It was the right time to disgorge these bottles and stock them. Most of our current business being based on selling the more recent champagnes, we took the opportunity to cellar these 1914 bottles."

Even for experts, guessing the vintage and disgorgement year for this bottle would have been simply impossible. The champagne was so fresh, vibrant and lively. We could easily feel the power of chardonnay grapes in this champagne, maybe sourced from vineyards around Epernay (Chouilly...). But nobody knows exactly and who cares as long as the champagne is superb...In fact, secrets kept in this bottle made the champagne even more extraordinary.

Even with a little knowledge of history, we all know that 1914 was the beginning of the first world war. So we can easily understand that making champagne during this period was complicated. "Maurice Pol Roger, mayor of the city of Epernay at this time, was looking for opportunities to develop the economic situation of his town. Men had to go to war and Maurice said to the women to go and harvest. The town decided to print bank notes in order to pay for each volume of grapes harvested.." said Hubert de Billy.

This is the end of the story and, at this stage, you may have the anwer to the question asked at the beginning of this article. Like it says on each bottle of Chateau Gruaud Larose "Le Vin des Rois, Le Roi des Vins", Pol Roger 1914's label should mention “Harvested to the sound of guns. To be drunk to the sound of Trumpets”. On the other day, there were not only trumpets but a full orchestra playing a symphony. In our glass, aeration made this wine even more complex in terms of aromas and intense on the palate. The champagne, by itself, was superb. Superb but the rest made it just....extraordinary.(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

2010 Northern Rhône Wine: « After the Exuberance of the grape varieties in 2009 wines, welcome to the Exuberance of the soils in 2010»

2011-01-18T08:55:00.002+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) A recent tasting of 2010 Northern Rhone wines at Maison M.Chapoutier was an excellent opportunity for Michel Chapoutier to give his first impressions on the quality of this vintage for each appellation. Before considering any specific appellation, he first declared: « After the exuberance of the grape varieties in 2009 wines, welcome to the exuberance of the soils in 2010. In the 2010 vintage, wines deliver a magnificent definition, with minerality, elegance and a great tension.» Here is a summary of his comments on each appellation.

Appellation Cote-Rotie 2010 « The flowering was less generous than in 2009 and Nature has therefore regulated the load by vine. Grapes have benefited from a remarkable natural concentration. This 2010 Mordorée shows a black colour and a complex and intense nose of ripe and fresh black fruit. Beautiful floral aromas (Violet…). Full bodied, very elegant with tanins and a great balance. Finish shows a splendid mineral tension. »

Appellation Condrieu 2010 « The flowering was generous on the viognier grapes and the very northern climate in 2010 allowed harvesting grapes with remarkable fresh aromas. Immediately we knew this vintage would deliver finesse. The result is in accordance with our expectations. The nose shows beautiful fresh aromas. Notes of exotic fruit, litchi, pineapple, but also notes of citrus fruits, green lemon and apricot. On the palate, the wine is full bodied, refreshing and delivers minerality. The structure, supported by a beautiful acidity, is well balanced. Finish is persistent and aromatic. »

Appellation Saint Joseph White 2010 « Flowering was even less generous than in 2009. We harvested beautiful grapes full of concentration and minerality. At first, the nose of this 2010 White Granit expresses power and aromatic complexity with a mix of citrus fruit, fennel and some very elegant reduction typical from granitic soils. The mouth, rich and powerful, expresses the mineral tension from granitic soil with an impressive precision. Floral, mineral notes, with fennel and anise aromas and and a beautiful "bitter almond" finish. The refreshing signature of a perfect Marsanne on Granitic soil. »

Appellation Saint Joseph Red 2010 « In 2010, Saint Joseph wines from the southern part of the district are more powerful than those from the northern part which deliver an extraordinary purity. This 2010 Les Granits delivers a nose full of black fruit with a strong mineral accent. Graphite, carbon, impression of a stone burnt by the sun. The tension on the palate, the important and delicate tannic structure as well as and the minerality from a granitic soil make this wine unique. Aromatic persistence is impressive with a full, complex and tense sensation. »

Appellation Crozes Hermitage Red 2010 « This 2010 Varonniers shows a very intense nose, with black and red fruit notes (black cherry), lovely vegetal and floral aromas (violet). The attack is massive, tanins add beautifully to the structure of the wine. Full bodied and balanced with a nice mineral tension. A finish with a great precision and some black fruit. »

Appellation Crozes Hermitage White 2010 « A first discreet nose and then an astonishing complexity for a Marsanne planted on sedimentary soil. Elegant marriage of fennel and citrus fruit (green lemon), very refreshing aromas. The palate is well balanced between fruit (pear…), nice vegetal notes (fennel, anise) and mineral tension. Finish is persistent and refreshing. »

Appellation Hermitage Red 2010 « Syrah grapes ripened very slowly, skins accumulated important quantities of polyphenols which give powerful attacks as well as structured and balanced wines. The nose of this 2010 Pavillon is complex and very intense. With aromas of black fruit, blackcurrant, blackberry and graphite, this wine shows a delicious freshness. Palate is powerful, full bodied. Beautiful tanins add to the structure of this hermitage. Finish is explosive. »

Appellation Hermitage White 2010 « Whites are very mineral, with elegant aromas of white fruits and white flowers. Always with a beautiful acidity, finesse, complexity and saline finish. A discreet nose at first for this 2010 White Ermite, then a large range of floral nuances and mineral notes but always discreet and very delicate. Complexity is such that it is difficult to name them separately. Mouthfilling, the expression of this wine is based on a delicate mineral tension. Floral and mineral notes come together to make the wine even more impressive. Aromatic persistence is impressive: fresh, with a mineral tension, the wine offers a refreshing sensation.»

Appellation Cornas 2010 « This appellation produced grapes with a beautiful maturity. These wines are both powerful and balanced. The wine shows a black and deep colour. A very complex nose with fig and fig leaves aromas. Then notes of graphit, carbon, soot. Attack is massive, with elegant and structured tanins, lovely flesh and superb mineral tension. Full bodied, the wine shows a big volume with structure and flesh. Tanins, which are still showing a little “granitic” austerity, will benefit from ageing. »

Appellation Saint Péray 2010 « The nose expresses some aromatic complexity, a mix of citrus fruit, pear, beautiful flower nuances (hawthorn), anise and a discreet and elegant reduction. Palate is generous, rich, supported by a lovely acidity and a long finish punctuated by a beautiful mineral reduction. » (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

2011 Resolution: Take Time to enjoy the Best Wines made on this Planet!

2011-01-06T11:46:00.005+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Yquem, Vega Sicilia, Petrus, Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Egon Muller, Romanee Conti, Penfolds Grange, Sassicaia, Krug, Quinta do Noval, Dom Perignon, Margaux, Screaming Eagle, Pingus....Sometimes privileges come with age. And sometimes they come with your job!.

Travelling, meeting nice persons, tasting magnificent wines with knowledgeable people is definitely A Great Privilege. I have to admit that drinking the most fabulous wines produced on this planet is something unique. But, at the same time, I may sometimes feel frustrated not to have spent enough time to enjoy those wines. In fact, professional tastings have nothing to do with a scenario like "opening a bottle, sitting around a table with some people, having food and enjoying a glass". And for that reason, I sometimes feel that I miss a part of the experience. So, if there would be a resolution for 2011, I would go for that one: Take more time to enjoy some of the greatest wines Nature and winemakers are offering.

12 months, 365 days....2010 has given great opportunities to taste splendid wines. I say "taste" because most of the time it was during professional tastings. I would definitely sit again and enjoy the wines I particularly appreciated. Some examples?

1978 Champagne de Venoge Blanc de Blancs, with its beautiful and exhuberant truffle aromas and a definition of purity on the palate.

1999 Coteau de Vernon (Domaine Georges Vernay), for the expression of minerality, precision and elegance in Condrieu.

1900 Chateau Gruaud Larose for the perfumes, the colour and the delicate fruits. Simply unbelievable after 110 years...

2000 Littorai, a pinot Noir from Sonoma County (USA) that delivers a lovely fruit, with a great balance and a nice potential for ageing. A future US icon wine?

1990 Chateauneuf du Pape Barberac (Chapoutier) for a brilliant interpretation of Grenache in a great vintage and in a splendid appellation.

2007 Giorgio Primo which shows a great balance between structure, power and aromas. A mineral tuscan wine for great Bordeaux lovers!

1963 Quinta do Nova Nacional: Dark ruby, Sweet, spicy, tannic, silky...There is everything in this Port.

In 2011, if I could have these delicious wines once again, I would share them with some friends and take my time. I would forget about the immediate reactions I have during professional tastings: Is it really as great as we would expect? To what wine does it compare? what other vintage of this wine could it be compared to? How does it rank in this particular vintage compared to other producers? Does it exactly reveal the terroir? In fact, I should forget about all these questions that come first to my mind and which make, maybe, the experience a bit different. Difficult, in fact, to get out of this analytical aspect which is now part of myself. But, anyway, you know how difficult it is to follow the resolutions you wrote down on January 1st...So Have a great 2011! I wish you to enjoy many new unforgettable experiences and share great wines with winemakers down in their estate cellars!(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Could a US$100 Bordeaux Fine Wine be sold at the Pump? Famous Bordeaux Winemaker Domaine de Chevalier plans to do so...

2010-12-15T05:38:00.005+01:00

(This editorial is the executive summary of an exclusive VitaBella report)(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Wine market in China is growing very fast and specialized wine retail shops still need to develop all over the country. For that reason, new opportunities are considered by wineries willing to gain rapid market shares and brand awareness. An acclaimed Bordeaux Chateau, Domaine de Chevalier, understood this situation very well and decided to move forward. In a recent article, Wall Street Journal wrote that "the premium winemaker has an agreement with China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. to peddle its Bordeaux in 110 stores across China, according a report by Shenzhen Special Zone Newsletter." (you can read the full article in VitaBella Wine Gossip, Edition December 15th)

Can this move be a success in a short term? in the long term? With a strong distribution network throughout China, Sinopec is a big player in the oil industry. So partnering with them and leveraging on a large daily traffic at the pump could make sense for any company that wants to develop sales rapidly in a huge market. Moreover, with the increasing problem of counterfeit wines, Domaine de Chevalier can propose its bottles in some "reliable" shops that chinese fine wine lovers are looking for. In terms of brand image, success will be guaranteed if Domaine de chevalier makes sure that labels are effectively seen and promoted nicely. The impact will not be the same if wine cases stay between oil bottles and car washing products, or if they are displayed in a nice way that would immediately attract eyeballs.

A concern for Domaine de Chevalier may be the professional qualifications of the people working in the gas stations. Does this workforce know about wine or do they need to be trained to talk about wine and more particularly about Domaine de Chevalier? Or do we consider that buying a bottle of Domaine de Chevalier can become an "impulse buy". Knowing that we talk here about wines that cost in the range of 600 yuan to 700 yuan (US$90 to $105), I am not sure that the "impulse buy" effect has much to do in this category level but the Chinese market is so unpredictable...In fact, as Wall Street Journal mentions it, this won’t be the first wine sold at Sinopec. Their gas stations have already displayed and sold Great Wall wines, one of the country’s leading labels.

As a conclusion, this new venture for Sinopec (they have been selling products other than fuel for two years now), seems to develop well. And going high end is a way to answer demands from a chinese market that develops rapidly in fine wines. If, on a long term, Domaine de Chevalier should be aware that its wines may be referred as "the gas station wine" (in fact, this may have a negative impact if communication is not properly handled), selecting a limited number of gas stations (110 stores in China) is a first good step for the wine estate. This may open new opportunities in the future, with a broader distribution. It will also give time to both partners to know each other better. And if today only 15% of Sinopec's 95,000 stations sell nonfuel products, such as wine, we can easily figure out the huge potential for such a deal if China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. decided to implement this approach throughout their network. China is full of opportunities for fine wines and Olivier Bernard, owner of Domaine de Chevalier, understood it very well at an early stage.(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Luxury wine: Piper Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck on Sale...After Remy Cointreau, could a chinese company be the next owner of both Champagne brands?

2010-12-10T09:12:00.002+01:00

For wine professionals, this is not breaking news: Remy Cointreau, world's second-largest producer of cognac behind the Hennessy brand of French luxury products group LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has put its Piper-Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck Champagne brands up for sale in a deal which could raise as much as €450m. According to the UK wine magazine Decanter: "The news has provoked intense speculation over who will acquire the brands, with Diageo and Pernod Ricard named as possible bidders – although analysts believe a private equity group is the most likely buyer." What should we think about these speculations and what other names could be evoked? With the current strong interest for wine in Hong Kong, a big chinese name could make the deal.

Charles Heidsieck and Piper Heidsieck are on sale. Right but what should the buyer be aware of?

1) On the financial side: Sales dropped to 6.9m bottles in the year to March 2010 (of which Piper accounted for 5.6m and Charles 0.8m bottles). Bottom line: It is understood that Piper has never been profitable in the 20 years that Rémy Cointreau has owned it.

2) On the Human Resources side: Cost-cutting measures have included the announcement of 45 job losses (one quarter of the workforce) in February 2010, which prompted strike action at the company’s headquarters on the outskirts of Reims. Full measures were not applied.

3) Distribution: Buyer's major objective will be to develop sales internationally. Distribution of Charles and Piper Heidsieck was supported by the strong experience of Remy Cointreau group. The buyer will ideally have its own distribution network or would have tied up strong relationships with distributors in strategic places in the world.

4) Grape resources: Charles and Piper have good long-term contracts with vine growers. The buyer should make sure to pursue these long term contracts by strengthening relationships with vine growers. Then it will guarantee the buyer to maintain quality and volume achieved in the past.

5) Brand assets: Experts praise quality of Charles Heidsieck champagnes. From Brut Non Vintage to Blanc des Millénaires, the quality is very high but low volume makes it a little known brand worldwide compared to Piper Heidsieck. With over 5 million bottles and a new delicious top cuvee called Rare, Piper is a strong brand. But a major issue arises when it comes to branding: Confusing names. In fact, Charles Heidsieck and Piper Heidsieck are two labels along with the Heidsieck Monopole. If the name confuses the champagne connoisseur a little, most of occasional champagne buyers may be confused. This could unfortunatley have direct impact on brand image.

So Charles Heidsieck and Piper Heidsieck are now on sale. But who could buy them?

We can hear and read some rumors. Recently in Dow Jones : "Laurent-Perrier is "watching closely" Remy Cointreau's champagne unit sale process, Etienne Auriau, Laurent-Perrier's Chief Financial Officer said Wednesday. Even though Laurent-Perrier may not be interested for all the assets put on for sale, the company might be interested in the contracts to supply the wine producers, Auriau added."

Ok, very good point! But, in that sense, we can easily imagine that some other champagne brands might be interested in these contracts. So, next! A private equity group? It would make sense in fact but Champagne is a very specific industry and this fund must have a good experience in the Champagne industry. Or this private equity group would partner with a renowned champagne name to make this deal successful. An american company? With euro-dollar parity and economic uncertainty, it may not be the right timing for a US based company to make such an investment. Pernod Ricard? They currently make a great work to develop internationally Mumm and Perrier Jouet and enhance both brand images. So at this period, they are on hard work and they may not think about investing in new brands...

I may suggest 3 other directions. None is french!
First, the spanish Freixenet group: they already know about the champagne market (they own Abele) and have a strong and efficient distribution network. Freixenet is one of the most renowned and largest cava houses in Spain, similar in size and importance to France's Moet & Chandon. Going high-end may be an interesting strategy for them.
Second, the german Henkell & Co: One of the leading sparkling wine, they export to more than 70 countries worldwide. The Group is represented by owned subsidiaries in twelve countries. It has leader position for sparkling wine in seven countries and boasts a turnover of €628.6 million. Moreover they know about the specificities of the champagne market as they own Alfred Gratien and they built up a nice brand.
Finally, with the strong interest for chinese in wine, a chinese company could be interested in acquiring these 2 brands. Many names could come up and I won't make the full list but I would suggest one name: AS Watson. Watson's Wine Cellar opened its first store in Central Hong Kong and is now the largest specialist wine store chain in the region with 15 stores. A distinctive feature of each Cellar is the Fine Wine Room containing over 300 different vintages ranging from the top Chateaux from Bordeaux to emerging New World Classics from around the world. Watson's Wine Wholesale has grown significantly since its launch in 2000 and is now one of the top suppliers of wine to the food and beverage industry in Hong Kong. With a history dating back to 1828, the A.S. Watson Group has evolved into an international retail and manufacturing business with operations in 34 markets worldwide. Today, the Group operates over 8,900 retail stores running the gamut from health & beauty, luxury perfumeries & cosmetics to food, electronics, fine wine and airport retail arms. Also an established player in the beverage industry, ASW provides a full range of beverages from bottled water, fruit juices, soft drinks and tea products to the world's finest wine labels via its international wine wholesaler and distributor. ASW employs 87,000 staff and is a member of the world renowned Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Limited, which has five core businesses (ports and related services; property and hotels; retail; energy, infrastructure, investments and others; and telecommunications) in 54 countries. So this HK based group is in the fine wine business, in the Manufacturing business with Water, fruit juices and soft drink, and also in the retailing. Moreover 350 - 450 million euros is an "affordable amount" for this giant company. In fact they would just need to sell Marionnaud business (perfume retailing) to get this money and invest it in Champagne!

Should you sell your bottles of Chateau Lafite Now as the top China economist Andy Xie would advise?

2010-12-03T07:17:00.006+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Luxury wine and Lafite prices...If there is one article to read over the week-end, that may be the well documented post that Andy Xie - an economist who left Morgan Stanley after writing an email that described Singapore as a money-laundering hub - wrote in his blog. His conclusion is unambiguous: Sell your bottles of Chateau Lafite, Now. After reading this interesting analysis, I give here some comments on a few points he makes before giving his personal conclusion.

1) "Like other assets, the force for the bubble is the low interest rate environment. Bernanke is a bigger reason for the fine wine price than 1.3 billion Chinese." Andy Xie is certainly right on a short term but on a longer term, we can imagine the Chinese market becoming a huge population of wine consumers (and not only of fine wines).

2) "In the 2000 internet bubble, a lot of companies were worthless but were trading at billions of dollars of market capitalization. Some were really good companies but were priced several times higher than their intrinsic worth. Lafite is like the later." At the time of the internet bubble, share prices for all companies (all and not only a selection of them) were skyrocketing. This is in fact what explained the burst of this bubble in 2000. Today, if there is a bubble on wine prices, it is strictly limited to a very few wines which are in fact of very high quality. For wine - which makes the comparision with internet companies a bit biased - quality is still a major focus when it comes to investment.

3) "The crash happens when the US treasury market crashes, which forces the Fed to tighten monetary policy. That is probably in 2012. Still, now is the right time to sell your Lafite." Right but in this disastrous scenario, we can easily understand that not only Lafite or luxury wines will be concerned. In fact, all assets in general will be more or less impacted by this situation.

4) "By weight Lafite is more expensive than silver even for a bad vintage, and almost ten times as expensive for a great vintage like 1982." This is a very good point and shows how Chateau Lafite created its own bubble in the luxury wine market.

5) "Wine drinkers become hoarders.(...)The top Bordeaux chateaus behave like internet companies in 2000. They sell a small proportion for each release. The shortage triggers market frenzy." At such a high price, you think twice (or even more) before opening a bottle and prefer to keep it for a very special occasion if you do not sell it. So at the end, less bottles may be drunk than in the past, even if it said that these wines are made for entertaining business relationships.

So Bubble? Yes. Burst? we do not know. In fact, due to its rapid and impressive growth, China is facing inflation problem. A fivefold increase in China's M2 supply in the past decade is part of the problem. Raising interest rate will immediately impact investment strategies. And fine wines are more or more acquired to make an investment. In that sense, Lafite prices and prices of some other top wine estates will be affected. But China is a growing market of wine consumers. When you get back to history, you always find good reasons for a specific market to have developped a large population of wine consumers. In China, a broad communication around wine has been made particularly thanks to exclusive and very expensive wines. Chinese read and learn about wine through the stories of the most famous estates and the prices of their wines. So will this bubble burst or not? Only future can tell. But what history will tell is that thanks to this huge hype around top wines, China has discovered a taste for wine and this market will develop nicely in the future to become an important business destination for any wine estate. Without this big hype around Lafite, the aspiration of a large chinese population to discover the great world of wines would have certainly developped much more slowly.(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Luxury Wine and Second Wine: Do You remember the Bordeaux Prices of September?

2010-11-30T09:07:00.001+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) When I look these days at the prices of second wines of Bordeaux First growths, it reminds me of a music from Earth Wind and Fire which said "Do You remember...the Bordeaux prices... of September?". In fact, most of the time we read about the big hype around Bordeaux prices, comments are made on 2009 En Primeur Bordeaux First Growths. And the best example is the bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild which was proposed at the price of 1000 euros and which now trades around 1800 euros.

In fact, what could be even more spectacular is what happens now on the second wines of Bordeaux first growths. Do You remember the Bordeaux prices of September? Le Clarence de Haut Brion 2007, second wine of Chateau Haut Brion, priced now at 135 euros when it was 65 euros in September. September again with Pavillon Rouge 2007, second wine of Chateau Margaux, at 50 euros. Now 180 euros. Petit Mouton 2007, second wine of Chateau Mouton Rothschild, now 150 euros while it was 60 euros in...September. In a discussion about these prices with wine merchant Benjamin Gabin, from La Maison Gabin based in Bordeaux, he mentionned that most of those wines were now heading to Asia. "China puts more pressure on Lafite Rothschild prices - and the rest of the production of the entire group - than on any other famous estate like Chateau Latour or Margaux. Two particular trends can be noticed. First, pressure on the 2008s with the "Number 8 effect": Lafite 2008 launched at 180 euros and now available at 1600 euros. For the same vintage, Chateau Latour looks ridiculously cheap at 450 euros... And the second trend is the price pressure on "less generous vintages" such as 1972, 1973, 1974 or 1979, 1980 and 1981. One year and a half ago, Lafite bottles were priced at 200 euros for these vintages and now trade around 700 euros."

Bordeaux First growths' prices are skyrocketing...Prices of their second wines are exploding...Where are these prices going to in a near term? On a longer term? In fact the positive trend looks very strong for those wines. But we should also remember that Caruades de Lafite which traded at 130 euros before 2008 crisis went down to 60 euros during the toughest period of the depression. Then it went up again and prices are now reaching their pick since September. Oh Yes September...Ba Ba Ba de Ya say do you remember...Ba de Ya pricing in september...Ba de Ya Golden dreams were shiny days...(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

"The name of your mission is Wine and you must rescue Soldier Australian"

2010-11-24T10:33:00.003+01:00

Name of the Mission: Wine
Name of the soldier: Australian
All the information you require is on www.allforonewine.com and will self destruct on the day after Australia Day. This may sound like a James Bond scenario which happens in beautiful Australia but this happens now for real. Pure Reality. As you can read today in VitaBella Wine Gossip, Giovanni Morelli commented in Irish Medical Times about the situation in Australia: "Australian wine has come under a lot of pressure since the great days of the 1980s and ’90s. Oddbins was a great advertisement for Australian wine, and the taste for oaked Chardonnay was undoubtedly initiated on many palates by such wines as Rosemount. Now all is not well. According to Harvey Steinman and Tyson Stelzer in the Wine Spectator in September, a number of large Australian wine producers are in receivership and face bankruptcy. I presume this is a result of overproduction of wine in Australia, competition from South America and the world economic depression."

So Stephen Pannell, Award-winning Australian wine maker, decided to launch a great initiative in Australia to rescue wineries: a new website which asks Aussies to drink only Australian wines from January 1st until Australia Day. In fact, the scenario in Australia can not get worse: the value of Australian wine imports has risen again, as Australians continue to favour foreign varieties. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures for the September quarter show wine imports increased in value by 4.5 per cent during the last year. New Zealand continues to dominate imports, sales of French wine also grew...So will this initiative supported by more than 500 winemakers help? At least it is a very smart communication initiative. It will also mobilize Australians (and maybe even more particularly those living abroad, and they are numerous!). But this "rescue mission" should also bring on the table some key questions such as "What kind of wine do Australians want to drink in 2010?". Discussions with my australian friends regularly come back to (please add the australian accent to the following sentences): "I am fed up with strong alcohol", "I do not appreciate anymore too powerful red wines", "I need a balanced wine, not too strong". In fact, there are many wines adapted to this new taste in Australia. But we need more.

So YES, I will participate to this initiative and drink australian wines during this period of time. Maybe more than usual thanks to this very clever communication. But I will be very selective also and this unfortunately won't help the huge load of australian wines on the market now. Will the soldier Australian be rescued? I sincerely hope so but, like in any rescue mission, there are always huge risks of casualties on the ground...(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Celebrities at "Les Vendanges de l'Avenue Montaigne", the most glamorous and luxurious Harvest in the World

2010-11-23T10:08:00.003+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, Dior, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Prada...Chateau Gruaud Larose, Antinori, Champagne Roederer, Chateau Latour...One night every two years, these luxury brands meet and make the most delicious show on one of the most beautiful avenue in Paris: L'Avenue Montaigne.

Luxury, Glamour, Art, Lifestyle...You name it. "Les Vendanges de L'Avenue Montaigne" that will take place today in Paris is one of the sexyiest event which brings together Haute Couture, Fashion, Haute Joaillerie and Fine Wine. Don't let you mislead by the word "Vendanges" which means Harvest in French: you won't find harvesters dressed as they were going to pick grapes in Champagne, Bordeaux or Tuscany vineyards. For the dress code, you would better rely on the rest of the name of this event organized by Comite Montaigne: "de L'Avenue Montaigne". Which means nice women with their newest and sexiest dresses together with men dressed in a very classic and chic way. All these people have received in advance private invitations to enter the party. They will be served luxury wines and will celebrate this 2010' harvest with older vintages from renowned estates. A good opportunity to celebrate 2010 which, in fact, appears to be a nice to very nice vintage depending on the regions. Nearly one week after the popular celebration of Beaujolais Nouveau, this unique event gives to luxury wines a great exposition to luxury brands' lovers and medias in Paris.

For this 20th edition, "Les Vendanges de l'Avenue Montaigne" will certainly be a great success, again. So what should be the next step to make it even more succesful? Why not make this event a worldwide celebration to Fine wines and Haute Couture/ Haute Joaillerie brand names. Why not having this event in New Delhi, Shanghai and other places in the world where luxury brands become more and more popular. Chateau Gruaud Larose, Antinori, Champagne Roederer, Chateau Latour...These wines are now available all over th world like Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, Dior, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton or Prada are. I am sure I am not the only one to dream about it at the time when I am putting on my Dior suit, Armani shirt and Gucci tie before heading to the harvest...(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

The Fabulous Destiny (or DesTeany) of Hospices de Beaune Sale and Great Burgundy Wines

2010-11-20T12:10:00.001+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Beaune, 8 o'clock on this saturday morning, streets start to live again. You already feel the agitation that will come in the next few hours brought by the long expected Week end of the Hospice de Beaune Sale. It's cold outside and the only drink you dream about now is a great tea. A delicate and unique tea that will remind you of the rare and great bottles tasted last night. Yes, Burgundy is right when they started communicating recently that great Burgundy wines are like great teas from China, Japan, India or other fabulous tea regions in the world.

I dream about this wonderful Wu Yi Rougui tasted a few years ago with two old men who were taking care of their tea plantations like Roumier or other great "vignerons" would take care of their estate vineyard. They were complaining about the incredible extension of this "appellation" in Northern Fujian of China over the last 20 years. Demand is high for this oolong tea which is highly regarded thanks to great names such as Bai Ji Guan, Tie Luo Han, Shui Jin Gui and of course the famous Da Hong Pao. Red fruits and floral notes of this tea immediately evoke a great wine from "Cotes de Nuits". The Nose is very elegant and delicate like a great red Burgundy wine with a reasonable ageing would exhibit. Then these two old guys talk about "fermentation" and say that the best "rock teas", as we name these Wu Yi teas coming from rocky mountains, are 30-40% fermented. They explain this is a "real expression" of the teas from this region and that other ways of processing the tea leaves would not make a "perfect Wu Yi Rougui". In fact, it immediately reminded me of the long discussions with great winemakers in Burgundy talking about their way to make their own wines...

Then I continue walking in these streets of a wonderful city of Beaune and I ask myself if I would not prefer, right now, an expressive and exhuberant Bi luo chun...Is it for its incredible fragrance of for its history that I would like to have it now? I don't know but this tea named Imperial Tribute Tea by the Qing Emperor has something that immediatly reminds me of the traditions and history behind Hospices de Beaune and Burgundy wines. This tea originating from the Jiang Su Province reminds me of a delicious white Chassagne Montrachet with a great refreshing palate that makes this cup (or glass) so exciting. In fact immediately you want to drink another cup and talk about it for hours. So many questions come to your mind: where are the tea plantations located? What kind of soil is it? What process did they use to make this tea so wonderful? All the questions you may ask to winemakers this week if you have the great chance to participate to one of the most fabulous week-end around wine in the world. Even if it is cold outside. Even if it rains. In fact, this will give you a good reason to enter a small bar in city center and have the choice between a terrible Earl Grey tea or a lovely white Burgundy...(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Philantropy and Fine Wines: Build a Wine Story with a Big Heart

2010-11-12T14:50:00.005+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Let's imagine a day when a percentage of the Roederer or Lanson Champagne bottle's recommended selling price is given to a charity. You could do the same with each bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild sold en primeur or with bottles of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau sold on the third thursday of November. This time could come soon as we saw more and more successful initiatives during the last few years.

Some examples? In the USA, the Bump family recently released Darms Lane Linda's Hillside Vineyard cabernet sauvignon. This wine is named in honor of Darms Lane vineyard co-owner Linda Bump, who died of ovarian cancer in 2007, and one-third of the bottle's recommended selling price of $75 is given to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Another example in the US comes from Gallo Family Vineyards: you can mail in a cork from any of the company's wines between now and December 31 and the winery will donate $5 to the Meals On Wheels Association of America, for a total of $25,000 (The Meals on Wheels Association of America provides meals to senior citizens and families in need). And these operations are not only taking place in the USA. A great initiative on an international level comes fom Macallan Scotch Whisky. The Macallan Scotch Whisky's oldest and rarest whisky ever bottled, a 64-year-old single malt, has traveled the world in a Lalique decanter. According to Business Week, "tiny tastes of about 3 ounces have been auctioned off with proceeds benefiting charity. A high point was $41,000 raised in Taipei. Since the tour began in April 2010, The Macallan and Lalique have raised about $145,000 for the nonprofit group charity: water, which works to provide safe drinking water to developing nations. The tour ends with a final auction of the Lalique decanter filled with 1.5 liters of the 64-year-old liquid on Nov. 15 at Sotheby's New York".

Let's hope more and more famous names in the fine wine industry will get involved in charity initiatives. Of course chateaux and wine estates will benefit positively from these initiatives in terms of image. But more important is the impact they will have on research and charities in the future. The point here is not to recommend wine estates to do exactly the same as Ehlers Estate's owners in the Napa Valley, who decided that 100 percent of proceeds from wine sales would go to support the nonprofit Leducq Foundation in Paris dedicated to funding international cardiovascular research. The point is just to recommend wine estates to contribute to extraordinary efforts made by charities. If positive communication could pair with making a better world for everyone, then it would make wine stories even more extrordinary. (if you want to help, here are the links related to this story: http://www.everycorkcounts.com; http://www.darmslanewine.com; http://www.themacallan.com; http://www.ehlersestate.com)(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Can Burgundy wines be the next Bordeaux in China? Yes, but like shares, Premium is always for Liquidity and not Scarcity.

2010-11-05T09:38:00.005+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Every year, during the 3rd week-end of November, the Hospices de Beaune auction takes place in a beautiful historical city. It is an important event in the wine-world calendar which attracts not only wine merchants' eyeballs but also an increasingly large audience of wine lovers internationally. The 150th sale will take place on November 21, 2010 and will be the central event of Burgundy’s most spectacular annual celebration, known as the Trois Glorieuses. With the chinese film star Liu Ye co-hosting the auction this year and the fact that after Bordeaux 09 Burgundy may seem a bargain to Chinese, a question could be raised: Can Burgundy wines be the next Bordeaux in China?

1) History of Burgundy wines: Chinese are very much attached to such strong "historical ties". Just consider the beauty of the Hôtel Dieu in Beaune which was founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor to Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy (1419-1467), and you would understand what I mean by "historical ties".
2) The clever communication made around the burgundy wines in China. The comparison with the aromas and subtlety of the best fine teas from China (Longjin, Oolong...) is something I discovered in 1994 during my first visit in China. Every year, when I go tasting the most exclusive chinese teas from the new harvest, I feel the comparison is very evident.
3) Chateau Latour is now owner of a vineyard in Burgundy and promotes its Vosne Romanee based wine estate, Domaine Eugenie, in Hong Kong and other big chinese cities. With such a big name from Bordeaux, the image of Burgundy wines can only take benefits from this promotion.
4) Recently, a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with the secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the Hong Kong government to fortify the partnership between Hong Kong and Burgundy in wine- related businesses. It will provide a good anchor for Burgundy to showcase its fine wines to Asian consumers, particularly those from Chinese mainland.
5) The taste of asian wine lovers for reds is more and more oriented towards delicate and elegantly perfumed wines. The greatest red burgundy wines can offer this excitement and can pair magnificiently with the food served in the best restaurants in China.

All those points are very positive and will help burgundy wines in general (and not only those from the small parcels of Grands Crus) to succeed in a very promising market. So if the question is "Can Burgundy wines be the next Bordeaux in China?", the answer would be "Yes" at this point. But my last point may make this answer changed for a more adequate "Yes, but..."

Last point: Scarcity. Those who invest in Hong Kong and other places in China are more and more willing to pay incredibly high prices for rare fine wines. In fact what we see now is very similar to what happened in the rare tea auctions where some chinese buyers were not reluctant to spend tens of thousands of dollars for 500 grams of a 60 years'old Pu Erh teas. But thinking of a Burgundy market, with skyrocketing prices as we have seen with Bordeaux first growths, makes me skeptical. In fact, if you take a closer look to what happened in Hong Kong over the last 12 months, you find that a lot of chinese buyers are investing for a collection and are hopeful they will sell these wines at a much higher price in the future. This is exactly what happens every day with shares on stockmarkets. But as most investors are aware of, there is a premium on stockmarkets for liquidity and not scarcity. And the particularity of Burgundy Grands Crus is the rarity of the most delicious bottles. The extremely "fragmented" nature of Burgundy is a fact and makes this region very appealing. In that sense, Bordeaux First Growths are much more attractive for investors who want to make sure there is a liquid "secondary market" to cash in rapidly and not an "unliquid grey market" where high volatility and unpredictability are extremely negative points. This last point could explain a continuous premium for Bordeaux First Growths when compared to Burgundy Grands Crus.(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Aussie Cult wines go through a turbulent period and the emergence of social media age may not help to restore the good image built over 30 years

2010-10-18T20:06:00.001+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) I was recently reading a discussion between wine professionals on a social media website. In fact, networking is great on those social media sites and information you can pick may be very useful. The story started with a message posted a few days ago: "The Fine Wine Bank has a special inventory of Rare & Fine Wine thats storage at London City Bond is about to expire. We are looking for buyers for these 90+ scored wines please enquire for the list."
Then started a discussion and potential buyers (mainly from US) were showing strong interest and wanted to receive the whole list. A first major issue was rapidly raised: individuals in the US will have to pay to have it shipped & imported including taxes and this will greatly change the prices of the wines. But this did not discourage most of them as passion comes first.
Then potential buyers started receiving the list by e-mail and discovered that "the offer is all Australian wines" as one mentioned on the forum. "Prices with logistics make these wines totally uninteresting in the US. Aussie cult wines are in the dumper and can be snatched up very affordably (read CHEAPLY) all over the place." was written on the wall.
But at this stage my view had not changed: Passion comes first and Wine, more particularly exceptional wines (or cult wines if you prefer this wording) is a beautiful world full of emotions and passions. And as was mentioned by the person who initiated this discussion in the forum: "Great wine is still great wine and this wine list is about cult autralian wines."

In fact, each visit in Australia is a great opportunity to taste excellent wines. Red or white, great australian wines can show power and elegance with a lovely balance you would not expect if you still think about the big, powerful and mouthful Barossa Valley style you were served, most of the time, 20 years ago. Add to this, lovely and exhuberant aromas and it makes me call some of these wines unique. But Australia is going through a terrible crisis and its cult wines may suffer from this period. Fast replies and short texts make Social medias very severe in the way they send a message. On the same discussion forum, a wine professional replied to the preceding message: "Great wine is indeed great wine - but current pricing structures on given products that result from over supply and lack of demand in any open market are neither deniable nor are they reliant on a critics opinion. I wish it were not so & that Aussie cults were still worth their purchase prices from pre-Oct 2008 - but they are simply not in this market." In fact, Aussie cult wines are suffering from a general crisis in Australia where over supply is a major problem. At their best, some of the Aussie cult wines were compared to First Growth Bordeaux and prices were in accordance with this ranking. Now Prices for top Bordeaux wines have outreached, by far, those of the top Aussie wines. This is what we could call the short-term impact. But, to avoid the long-term impact, Aussie cult wines should be careful in the way they will communicate in the future. Why? Because, in the long-run, they may lose their lure and destroy 30 years of hard work to be among the most sought-after luxury wines in the world. (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

The day when top restaurants will propose an impressive wine list, a unique food experience and Grand Cru Coffees...

2010-10-12T08:10:00.003+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Having lunch and dinners with fine wine merchants, I am always amazed when we are served a poor coffee after having tasted first growth Bordeaux wines and Grand cru Burgundies. The experience is even more difficult after having spent 4 years as president of the Cafeology Academy of coffee, an academy that delivers prizes to the best coffees in the world.

Most of the time, between wine experts, we like to share experiences we had recently with some wines. At the restaurant, it is not uncommon you share these ideas with sommeliers who are in charge of making proposals for the wine you will be served with your food as well as preparing it (tasting, decanting...). It is a great enjoyment for wine lovers to share with these people as their knowledge is broad and updated. Sommeliers have the chance to taste on a regular basis a large range of wines from all over the world, to discuss with vintners, to visit properties and understand why the wine tastes differently here than in any other property.

After having made a tough choice between a large offer of wines (wine experts are always long to make a choice in restaurants, they do not agree about the vintage and so on...), you start tasting and sommeliers come to your table to give you some more information. They talk about the taste and move to terroir expressions, the fact that soils are very important and give a unique taste to the wine depending on which location the vineyard is. They explain that, plot by plot, the grapes can express different aromas and show a more or less intense minerality.

And then, after this lovely food and wine pairing experience, all this should end up with the proposal of having a "Ethiopia or Guatemala?" coffee. At this level of knowledge and understanding (from both side, sommeliers and wine lovers), you would expect more than "here is your coffee from Guatemala" sentence. No word about the terroir, no word about the producer, no word about the area and nothing about the vintage. Could we imagine today, in a top restaurant, being served a wine without knowing anything else than the country it comes from?

A team from the francogerman TV channel Arte came yesterday to Paris for a brilliant Coffee Grand Cru Tasting to which I attended. We tasted impressive coffees from Panama: one obtained 1st Growth level ranking according to the academy's criteria and another the 2nd Growth level. Like great wines, great coffees do not come cheap. The prices for these coffees go up to 300US$ per kilo directly from producers. And after tasting these coffees, the whole TV team was keeping asking: What are top restaurants waiting for to serve these coffees? (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Should we believe Bordeaux Vintners when they will call 2010 a great vintage?

2010-10-08T14:57:00.001+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Most of you may remember the strong interest shown by international wine merchants in the 2009 vintage in Bordeaux. Most of the superlatives have been used by journalists to describe this vintage. In french, in english, in chinese and in thousand other languages.. It would be difficult to find new words if another great vintage comes to the market. In fact, this vintage could come very soon as we have to admit that, at a very early stage, 2010 appears to reveal a great to outstanding potential. It is not a matter of overstating but it looks like, after a tasting of "in process" wines, 2010 shows an extremely good potential. Too dry, difficult flowering, millerandage...All this does not sound like a great vintage. When compared to last year conditions, it is certainly different as Mother Nature gave the best of herself in 2009 with a "no worry" effect on vintners. This is not the case at all for 2010 but the tasting of grapes on vines, the look at analytical reports as well as the tasting of "in process" wines (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet franc) at some different stages show today a spectacular result. Lower yields compared to last year, very concentrated grapes and high levels of alcohol and acidity: this could be a short description of what happened in Bordeaux on 2010. In terms of colour, wines look great and do not show any weakness at this level. In terms of perfumes, grapes develop at the moment the delicious aromas they could offer during fermentation. In terms of tannins, we can see their high presence on an analytical level as well as we can feel them on the palate. The role of the winemaker here is to not overextract. In terms of alcohol, it is undeniably high and figures may show unprecedented levels for some parcels in chateaux. In terms of acidity, the level is higher compared to 2009 which could be a very positive point for making elegant wines. So as a conclusion, grapes are offering at this period of time an excellent potential for future great 2010 wines in Bordeaux. As usual, the role of the winemaker will be decisive as high potential of alcohol and tannins in 2010 may lead to unbalanced wines. But the "raw material" is definitely of a high level of quality and is giving vintners a potential to make great wines. So next time you meet Bordeaux vintners, don't be too sceptical about their view on the 2010 vintage. Yes believe them if they call it a great vintage. And then make your own opinion next year if you get the chance to taste them en Primeurs.(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Speculation or Diversification? The Truth about Funds that invest in Fine Wine

2010-09-17T05:53:00.003+02:00

(This editorial is the executive summary of an exclusive VitaBella report)(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). According to the newly released monthly poll BofA Merrill Lynch, investors mark their preference for liquidities and are overall slightly positive on the stock Market. They do not all agree about the direction the economic situation will take for the next few months but are all very skeptical about a strong and fast recovery scenario. Some even mention a a double dip recession. But at the same time, these fund managers also need to find new opportunities to invest their money in some ways including bonds, gold, etc. And wine is sometimes a "liquid asset" in which funds are interested to invest. And then come discussions among wine merchants and wine lovers who feel threatened by this new money coming into the luxury wine business and more particularly into Bordeaux 1st growths and the recent 2009' En primeurs' campaign. The same topics come back: Does it create a bubble that will explode sooner or later? What will happen when these wines will come back into the market on wine auctions? Do you know in which wines do these funds invest?

It is not breaking news to say that Finance and fine wines are strongly related. But as the word of Finance is often related for many to speculation and short-term objectives, wine merchants and wine lovers may be scared by the new flow of cash coming into the luxury wine business. As it may appear vague for some of us and in order to illustrate the comments made here, the reader will find, at the end of this article, a part of a portfolio that invested in wines as an example. It is just a portion of the entire wine holdings in this portfolio but informations such as names, vintages and valuations (recorded by the fund at the end of December 2009) could be found.

Some points to reassure wine merchants and wine lovers:

- Funds disclose their information to the public. So, nothing is hidden, and wine lovers can find out which fund invested in what wine. It is just a question of taking time to make researches.
- Investment funds are looking for new "safe" investments during a troubled economy. Wine seems to be the right vehicle as the track record for top wines has been quite impressive over the last 20 years. Moreover, they are actually interested in "concrete" assets such as gold, top quality properties and fine wine is considered "Red gold" by some.
- Investment funds are not overinvesting in wines but only take a very small part of their portfolio to invest in luxury wines. Asset allocation is strictly measured in order to lower the overall risk taken by the fund. So either a fund is 100% wine oriented or only a very small percentage is allocated to fine wines.
- Wine is such a beautiful thing that if investors do not make money out of this investment over the next 10 years, they will have the great pleasure to enjoy these bottles with their beloved friends.(Some funds propose to pay back the money invested by individuals with bottles instead of cash).

Of course, some negative points could be discussed:

- Investment funds can be huge and just investing a very small portion of their assets is already a lot of money.
- If investment funds all share the same traditional investment approach called "flight to quality", their investments would be only focused on the top 1% of the wines produced in the world (1% is an approximation as it may certainly be much lower than that).
- Much bigger than investment funds, Pension funds could have a big impact on prices of some very well identified names if they decide to invest heavily.
(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

List below: As an example, here is a portion of a portfolio that invested in wines (valuations at end of december 2009) and which recently made its holdings public.

Wine/ Producer/ Year/ Format /Nb.bott. /Tot. val.EUR

France
Bordeaux

Ausone/ Ausone/ 1961/ (MG)/ 6/ 17,137.50
Ausone/ Ausone/ 1964/ (BT)/ 12/ 5,256
Ausone/ Ausone/ 2000/ (BT)/ 2/ 3,544.50
Ausone/ Ausone/ 2003/ (BT)/ 3/ 4,610
Ausone/ Ausone/ 2005/ (BT)/ 171/ 361,551
Ausone/ Ausone/ 2006/ (En-Pr)/ 21/ 21,115.50
Ausone/ Ausone/ 2006/ (MG)/ 6/ 16,600
Ausone/ Ausone/ 2007/ (BT)/ 6/ 3,546
Ausone/ Ausone/ 2007/ (MG)/ 3/ 4,110
Ausone/ Ausone/ 2007/ (En-Pr)/ 36/ 21,276
Ausone/ Ausone/ 2008/ (En-Pr)/ 30/ 25,050
Caisse Prestige Bordeaux 1°/ Caisse Prestige/ 1998/ (CW)/ 1/ 8,500
Calon Ségur/ Calon-Ségur/ 1945/ (BT)/ 2/ 1,192
Calon Ségur/ Calon-Ségur/ 1949/ (BT)/ 20/ 13,560
Carruades de Lafite/ Lafite-Rothschild/ 2005/ (BT)/ 24/ 4,284
Carruades de Lafite/ Lafite-Rothschild/ 2007/ (En-Pr)/ 360/ 45,360
Carruades de Lafite/ Lafite-Rothschild/ 2007/ (En-Pr)/ 12/ 3,024
Carruades de Lafite/ Lafite-Rothschild/ 2008 (En-Pr)/ 1200/ 152,400
Cheval Blanc/ Cheval Blanc/ 1947/ (BT)/ 1/ 5,497
Cheval Blanc/ Cheval Blanc/ 1948/ (BT)/ 4 7,372
Cheval Blanc/ Cheval Blanc/ 1961/ (BT)/ 1 1,351
Cheval Blanc/ Cheval Blanc/ 1982/ (BT)/ 30 24,480
Cheval Blanc/ Cheval Blanc/ 1990/ (HB)/ 12 5,484
Cheval Blanc/ Cheval Blanc/ 2000/ (BT)/ 61 59,627.50
Cheval Blanc/ Cheval Blanc/ 2000/ (DMG)/ 1 3,578.50
Cheval Blanc/ Cheval Blanc/ 2005/ (BT)/ 7 4,726.75
Cheval Blanc/ Cheval Blanc/ 2006/ (En-Pr)/ 36 23,220
Cheval Blanc/ Cheval Blanc/ 2006/ (BT)/ 120 77,400
Cheval Blanc/ Cheval Blanc/ 2007/ (En-Pr)/ 72 31,464
Haut Brion/ Haut-Brion/ 1949/ (BT)/ 6/ 9,342
Haut Brion/ Haut-Brion/ 1952/ (BT)/ 8/ 5,088
Haut Brion/ Haut-Brion/ 1953/ (BT)/ 6/ 5,766
Haut Brion/ Haut-Brion/ 1964/ (MG)/ 3/ 1,817
Haut Brion/ Haut-Brion/ 1989/ (BT)/ 8/ 8,432
Haut Brion/ Haut-Brion/ 2000/ (BT)/ 12/ 6,188
Haut Brion/ Haut-Brion/ 2005/ (BT)/ 4/ 2,286.67
Haut Brion/ Haut-Brion/ 2006/ (BT)/ 48/ 27,264
Haut Brion/ Haut-Brion/ 2006/ (En-Pr)/ 12/ 6,816
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1948/ (BT) /1/ 3,923.50
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1961/ (DMG)/ 2/ 160,043
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1961/ (MG)/ 1/ 18,395.67
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1970/ (MG) /1/ 3,547
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1971/ (BT)/ 4/ 6,717.33
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1978/ (BT)/ 8/ 7,244
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1982/ (BT)/ 1/ 4,658.50
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1982/ (IMP)/ 1/ 60,000
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1982/ (MG)/ 3/ 26,475
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1983/ (BT)/ 14/ 13,699
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1986/ (BT)/ 1/ 1,343.50
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1989/ (MG)/ 1/ 6,963.50
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1990/ (BT)/ 12/ 41,994
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1995/ (BT)/ 5/ 6,166.25
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1995/ (BT)/ 12/ 14,799
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1998/ (BT)/ 11/ 26,826.25
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 1998/ (DMG)/ 1/ 17,000
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 2000/ (BT)/ 8/ 26,126
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 2000/ (MG)/ 1/ 7,211.50
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 2005/ (BT)/ 19/ 67,570.33
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 2005/ (MG)/ 1/ 10,117
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 2005/ (BT)/ 6/ 21,338
Pétrus/ Petrus/ 2006/ (En-Pr)/ 12/ 23,004
Yquem/ Yquem/ 1900/ (BT)/ 1/ 5,245
Yquem/ Yquem/ 1921 (BT) 13 102,730.33
Yquem/ Yquem/ 1937 (BT) 1 3,175.50
Yquem/ Yquem/ 1938 (BT) 1 1,171
Yquem/ Yquem/ 1945 (BT) 2 5,994
Yquem/ Yquem 1959 (BT) 1 1,593.25
Yquem/ Yquem 1966 (BT) 2 689
Yquem/ Yquem 1967 (BT) 46 59,581.50
Yquem Yquem 1967 (MG) 2 7,600
Yquem Yquem 1983 (BT) 6 2,506
Yquem Yquem 1996 (BT) 120 31,240
Yquem Yquem 1996 (HB) 240 26,040
Yquem Yquem 1996 (IMP) 4 8,060
Yquem Yquem 1996 (MG) 24 17,988
Yquem Yquem 1997 (BT) 96 32,352
Yquem Yquem 1997 (HB) 240 46,560
Yquem Yquem 1997 (IMP) 6 15,346
Yquem Yquem 1997 (MG) 48 29,688
Yquem Yquem 2000 (BT) 12 5,202
Yquem Yquem 2001 (BT) 1 468
Yquem Yquem 2005 (BT) 28 17,220
Yquem Yquem 2006 (En-Pr) 12 6,036
Yquem Yquem 2007 (En-Pr) 180 105,600

Burgundy

Bâtard Montrachet/ Leflaive/ 2000/ (BT)/ 12/ 3,312
Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet/ Leflaive/ 1999/ (BT)/ 12/ 2,076
Bonnes Mares Grand Cru/ Comte de Vogue/ 2005/ (BT)/ 6/ 3,912
Chambertin/ Leroy/ 1996/ (BT)/ 6/ 9,684
Chambertin/ Armand Rousseau/ 1990/ (BT)/ 2/ 2,242
Chambertin/ Armand Rousseau/ 2003/ (BT)/ 3/ 1,212
Chambertin/ Armand Rousseau/ 2005/ (BT)/ 18/ 15,705
Chambertin Armand Rousseau 2005 (MG) 1 3,187
Chambertin Clos de Bèze/ Armand Rousseau/ 1999/ (BT)/ 5/ 2,762.50
Chambertin Clos de Bèze/ Armand Rousseau/ 1999/ (MG)/ 1/ 1,105
Chambertin Clos de Bèze/ Armand Rousseau/ 2005/ (BT)/ 12/ 12,868
Clos de la Roche/ Ponsot/ 2005/ (BT)/ 6/ 5,432
Corton Charlemagne/ Coche-Dury/ 1990/ (BT)/ 12/ 30,912
Corton Charlemagne/ Coche-Dury/ 1997/ (BT)/ 5/ 5,075
Corton Charlemagne/ Coche-Dury/ 1998/ (BT)/ 3/ 2,494.50
Corton Charlemagne/ Coche-Dury/ 1999/ (BT)/ 1/ 2,205
Corton Charlemagne/ Coche-Dury/ 2003/ (BT)/ 2/ 1,544
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 2RSV / 2GE / 2E) DRC 1990 (CW) 2 66,641.33
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 3RSV / 1GE / 2E) DRC 1993 (CW) 1 11,300
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 1RSV / 2GE / 3E) DRC 1996 (CW) 1 15,348.25
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 2RSV / 1GE / 3E) DRC 1997 (CW) 1 13,450
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 3RSV / 1 GE / 2E) DRC 1998 (CW) 3 37,800
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 4RSV / 2E) DRC 1998 (CW) 1 12,600
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 2LT / 3R / 2RSV / 2GE / 2E) DRC 1999 (CW) 1 33,250
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 1R / 3RSV / 2G3 / 2E) DRC 1999 (CW) 1 33,250
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 2RSV / 2GE / 2E) DRC 1999 (CW) 4 133,000
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 2RSV / 1GE / 2E) DRC 2000 (CW) 1 14,610
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 2RSV / 2GE / 2E) DRC 2000 (CW) 2 29,220
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 2RSV / 2GE / 2E) DRC 2001 (CW) 5 68,965
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 2RSV / 2GE / 2E) DRC 2002 (CW) 2 28,818
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 2RSV / 2GE / 2E) DRC 2003 (CW) 2 37,681
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 2RSV / 2GE / 2E) DRC 2004 (CW) 4 88,000
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 2LT / 3R / 2RSV / 2GE / 2E) DRC 2004 (CW) 2 44,000
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 2RSV / 2 GE / 2E) DRC 2005 (CW) 4 111,980
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 2RSV / 2GE / 2E) DRC 2006 (CW) 15 219,420
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 3RSV / 1GE / 2E) DRC 2006 (CW) 1 14,628
DRC (Assortment) (1RC / 3LT / 2R / 4RSV / 2E) DRC 2006 (CW) 1 14,628
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer/ 1978/ (BT)/ 3/ 17,502
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 1978 (MG) 1 12,971.25
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 1980 (BT) 1 2,288
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 1984 (BT) 2 3,896
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 1985 (BT) 12 68,052
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 1986 (BT) 3 7,405.50
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 1987 (BT) 3 7,125
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 1988 (BT) 28 61,600
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 1989 (BT) 22 58,190
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 1989 (MG) 1 7,935
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 1990 (MG) 1 8,791.50
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 1991 (BT) 18 44,469
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 1992 (BT) 9 13,536
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 1993 (BT) 12 26,748
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 1994 (BT) 12 15,528
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 1995 (BT) 3 7,081.50
Echézeaux/ Henri Jayer 2001 (BT) 13 17,563
Griottes Chambertin/ Claude Dugat/ 1990/ (BT)/ 3/ 4,966.50
Griottes Chambertin/ Ponsot/ 2005/ (BT)/ 3/ 1,180.50
La Romanée/ Leroy/ 1962/ (BT)/ 12/ 20,172
Montrachet/ Comte Lafon/ 1992/ (BT)/ 2/ 3,494
Montrachet/ Comte Lafon/ 1993/ (BT)/ 1/ 1,250.50
Montrachet/ Comte Lafon/ 2003/ (BT)/ 1/ 745
Montrachet/ Comte Lafon/ 2005/ (BT)/ 12/ 19,692
Montrachet/ DRC 1968 (BT) 2 6,000
Montrachet/ DRC 1969 (BT) 3 6,816
Montrachet/ DRC 1973 (BT) 13 64,389
Montrachet/ DRC 1976 (BT) 2 7,573
Montrachet/ DRC 1978 (BT) 4 30,480
Montrachet/ DRC 1982 (MG) 1 9,000
Montrachet/ DRC 1988 (BT) 1 2,545
Montrachet/ DRC 1989 (BT) 7 23,863
Montrachet/ DRC 1990 (BT) 1 2,500
Montrachet/ DRC 1991 (JERO) 1 14,127
Montrachet/ DRC 1996 (MTH) 1 35,307
Montrachet/ DRC 1997 (BT) 5 10,133.33
Montrachet/ DRC 1999 (BT) 3 5,635.50
Montrachet/ DRC 1999 (MG) 1 4,191
Montrachet/ DRC 2000 (BT) 2 4,520
Montrachet/ DRC 2001 (BT) 1 2,258.67
Montrachet/ DRC 2002 (BT) 1 2,645
Montrachet/ DRC 2003 (BT) 2 6,151
Montrachet/ DRC 2003 (JERO) 1 11,100
Montrachet/ DRC 2003 (MG) 3 18,165
Montrachet/ DRC 2004 (BT) 6 13,881
Montrachet/ DRC 2004 (MG) 1 5,783.75
Montrachet/ DRC 2005 (BT) 37 173,604
Montrachet/ DRC 2006 (BT) 3 5,899.50
Montrachet/ Leflaive 1998 (BT) 3 7,161
Montrachet/ Leflaive 2003 (BT) 1 1,500
Montrachet/ Leroy 1969 (BT) 9 11,322
Montrachet/ Ramonet 1990 (MG) 1 4,250.67
Montrachet/ Sauzet 2003 (BT) 1 287
Musigny Grand Cru/ Comte de Vogue 2005 (BT) 6 5,229
Vosne Romanée/ Cros Parantoux Henri Jayer 1980 (BT) 15 62,250
Vosne Romanée/ Cros Parantoux Henri Jayer 1988 (BT) 1 3,757.50
Vosne Romanée/ Cros Parantoux Henri Jayer 1988 (MG) 1 9,393.75
Vosne Romanée/ Cros Parantoux Henri Jayer 1989 (BT) 2 10,273
Vosne Romanée/ Cros Parantoux Henri Jayer 1990 (BT) 1 7,834
Vosne Romanée/ Cros Parantoux Henri Jayer 1990 (MG) 5 71,457.50
Vosne Romanée/ Cros Parantoux Henri Jayer 1993 (MG) 2 15,009.50
Vosne Romanée/ Cros Parantoux Henri Jayer 1994 (BT) 2 3,354
Vosne Romanée/ Cros Parantoux Henri Jayer 1996 (BT) 13 43,368
Vosne Romanée/ Cros Parantoux Henri Jayer 1997 (BT) 8 14,628
Vosne-Romanée/ Henri Jayer 1992 (BT) 2 2,329
Vosne-Romanée/ Henri Jayer 1993 (BT) 2 2,355

Champagne

Clos d'Ambonnay/ Krug/ 1996/ (BT)/ 12/ 23,598
Clos du Mesnil/ Krug/ 1996/ (MG)/ 1/ 2,017
Cristal/ Roederer/ 1990/ (BT)/ 24/ 7,712
Cristal/ Roederer/ 1990/ (MG)/ 1/ 1,438.50
Dom Perignon/ Moet & Chandon/ 1964/ (MG)/ 4/ 5,020
Dom Pérignon/ OEnothèque Dom Perignon/ 1959/ (BT)/ 2/ 4,000

Rhone

Chateauneuf du Pape/ Réserve des Célestins/ Henri Bonneau/ 1978/ (BT)/ 10/ 9,100
Hermitage La Chapelle/ Jaboulet/ 1961/ (BT)/ 2/ 18,693
Hermitage Rouge/ Chave/ 1990/ (BT)/ 2/ 1,094
Hermitage Rouge/ Chave/ 1999/ (BT)/ 3/ 664.50
Hommage à Jacques Perrin/ Beaucastel/ 1999/ (BT)/ 10/ 2,640

Italy

Piedmont

Barolo Brunate R. Voerzio/ Roberto Voerzio/ 1998/ (BT)/ 24/ 2,724
Barolo Cannubi Sandrone/ Sandrone/ 1998/ (BT)/ 108/ 12,636
Barolo Cerequio R. Voerzio/ Roberto Voerzio/ 1998/ (BT)/ 54/ 5,724
Barolo Ciabot Ginestra D. Clerico/ Domenico Clerico/ 1998/ (BT)/ 18/ 1,971
Barolo Gran Bussia A.Conterno/ Aldo Conterno/ 1996/ (BT)/ 54/ 6,750
Barolo La Serra R. Voerzio/ Roberto Voerzio/ 1998/ (BT)/ 18/ 1,728
Barolo Le Vigne Sandrone/ Sandrone/ 1998/ (BT)/ 108/ 17,010
Barolo Rocche Annunziata Ris./ Scavino/ 1996/ (BT)/ 300/ 39,600
Barolo Rocche Annunziata Ris./Scavino/ 1997/ (BT)/ 300/ 68,400
Barolo Rocche Annunziata Ris./Scavino/ 1998/ (BT)/ 300/ 33,300
Gaja Sperss/ Gaja/ 1990/ (BT)/ 6/ 954
Gaja Sperss/ Gaja/ 1997/ (BT)/ 60/ 16,650
Massetto/ Tenuta dell'Ornellaia/ 1990/ (MG)/ 1/ 1,437.50
Massetto/ Tenuta dell'Ornellaia/ 1992/ (MG)/ 1/ 575
Massetto/ Tenuta dell'Ornellaia/ 1995/ (DMG)/ 1/ 1,604
Massetto/ Tenuta dell'Ornellaia/ 2004/ (BT)/ 36/ 14,364
Massetto/ Tenuta dell'Ornellaia/ 2004/ (DMG)/ 3/ 6,417
Massetto/ Tenuta dell'Ornellaia/ 2004/ (MG)/ 1/ 1,128
Ornellaia Edition Special 20 ans/ Tenuta dell'Omellaia/ 2005/ (DMG)/ 1 932
Ornellaia Edition Special 20 ans/ Tenuta dell'Omellaia/ 2005/ (MG)/ 2 633
Sassicaia/ Tenuta San Guido/ 1970/ (BT)/ 2/ 2,398
Sassicaia/ Tenuta San Guido/ 1985/ (BT)/ 6/ 8,946
Sassicaia/ Tenuta San Guido/ 1985/ (MG)/ 8/ 34,589.33
Sassicaia/ Tenuta San Guido/ 1990/ (MG)/ 3/ 4,497

Spain

L'Ermita Alvaro Palacios/ Alvaro Palacios/ 1996/ (JERO)/ 1/ 1,391.50
Vega Sicilia Unico/ Vega Sicilia/ 1962/ (BT)/ 12/ 6,268
Vega Sicilia Unico/ Vega Sicilia/ 1970/ (BT)/ 12/ 6,366
Vega Sicilia Unico/ Vega Sicilia/ 1970/ (MG)/ 1/ 1,583.33

United States

Cabernet Sauvignon/ Caymus/ 1995/ (MG)/ 2/ 976.89

Luxury Wine Auctions and Cultural aspects to consider for marketing Wines globally

2010-09-15T11:40:00.005+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) At the time when the fine wine auctions' season starts in New York, London, Paris, Geneva, Chicago and Hong Kong, it is a great opportunity to consider an aspect of wine marketing: selling a luxury wine internationally does imply that communication is differientated according to the economic situation and to the cultural aspects of the different regions (Europe, America or Asia).

In the coming weeks, more than $15 million worth of first-growth Bordeaux and Burgundies will be going under the hammers. Zachy's began the auction season during the weekend in Hong Kong with more than 900 lots on offer, including 1990 La Tache Domaine de la Romanee Conti, which sold for $50,262, and cases of 1989, '90 and '95 Chateau Petrus which fetched $40,837, $40,837 and $23,560 respectively. In fact Hong Kong, again this year, will be the hottest place for luxury wines. Acker Merrall & Condit will offer a six-pack of magnums of 1971 Romanee Conti, three cases of 1982 Chateau Petrus and three cases of 1982 Chateau Lafite Rothschild. Christie's will also be offering lots in Hong Kong which include more than 80 cases of Lafite-Rothschild with high-end estimates of $11,000 to $24,500 depending on the vintage. Also in Hong Kong, Sotheby's will offer a massive collection of Chateau Lafite dating back to 1869 (one bottle of 1869 with an estimate of $8,000). Of course, these are about the most glamourous lots but there will be many more and not only in Hong Kong but everywhere in the world. How will collectors react? Will all the wine auctions in the world be as successful as the ones in Hong Kong? At this point, two major points could be considered to understand the success of some auctions:

1) Depending on the region, buyers are not in the same mood and will make acquisitions according to their expectations in a near future. In the US, the consumer mood is biased toward lower price points and increased talk of a double dip recession does not inspire confidence. In Asia (excl. Japan), the market seems to be the least price sensitive in the world and the booming economy gives buyers a very positive mood to acquire the best wines at any price. In Europe and Japan, the market is somewhere in between.

2) Depending on the region and the cultural aspects, buyers won't make their decisions for the same reasons. Of course, all of these wines need credibility to be offered and acquired at high prices but, again, depending on the region, wine lovers/collectors do not share the same behaviours. European and japanese collectors are very much attached to the history of the wine estates and the success they gained through decades or even centuries. On the contrary, the need for credibility through established reputation is less of an impediment in the US. Having some good history is merely icing on the cake. Americans are much more concerned with style, quality and performance. Finally asian collectors are right in the middle but tend to favour an other aspect when they are in the process of acquiring luxury wines: the "social status impact".

Having briefly considered these two points, I wish all the best to all the bidders who may either make a good investment for their future pension or enjoy with wine lovers some of the best wines Nature could have ever made in this world...(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Aspirational Consumers and Asia, the next two Challenges for Luxury Wines.

2010-09-14T10:28:00.002+02:00

(This editorial is the executive summary of an exclusive VitaBella report)(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). Recently, the luxury industry showed figures for the first six months of 2010 which were looking quite good. This rebound is mainly due to increased consumer demand and restocking by wholesalers and retailers. The question now is whether it can continue for the rest of the year and into 2011.
- Firstly, if the first six months of last year was the weaker half of 2009 for luxury, further slowdown is likely as comparables will get tougher.
- Secondly, it seems luxury consumers have traded down to less prestigious wines.
- Thirdly, the real problem in the near future is the "aspirational consumer" behaviour. Aspirational consumers are people who do not usually buy luxury wines but would like to do so. And during the recession, many consumers who would trade up to luxury previously simply pulled out of the luxury market.
The future performance for luxury wine estates will depend on two major points:
- Get back these aspirational consumers into the market. They played a key role in the western countries in accelerating the growth since the 90's and in that sense would help again. The challenge is difficult as increased talk of a double dip recession does not inspire consumer confidence.
- Develop sales in Asia. Over the last few years, we saw an increased demand for luxury wines from China and some other countries. Deeper penetration of new, large luxury goods markets is likely to bring a new wave of consumers in the future.
These are the two big challenges that the management of luxury wine estates is facing. Success will depend on how and how fast wine estates will adapt to these new demographics.(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

Paris Biennale des antiquaires: Could Luxury Wines join Haute Joaillerie and take part to this prestigious fair?

2010-09-13T09:42:00.003+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) The 25th Paris Biennale des Antiquaires will take place from September 15th to 22nd in the Grand Palais, one of the most beautiful place in Paris. Some jewellery houses including Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier or Harry Winston will display their finest wares alongside antiques. To this new edition, Vuitton (a newcomer to the haute joaillerie) will take part for the first year as well as Piaget. For some it may appear strange that these brands are now setting up shops at the Grand Palais in Paris while we would expect to see only fine antiques and arts, and not high jewellery. So why are these brands interested in participating to this event alongside tapestries or porcelain. In fact, jewellers want to reach a larger population than the strictly limited population they could reach through their shops. And at the same time they want to associate their names to other areas of creativity. Cartier understood it immediately and has been present since the first biennale. Over the last decade, the dramatic price increase for haute joaillerie and the internationalisation of the clientele changed the game rules. And being present at a fair full of wealthy and erudit international collectors now become a necessary privilege. Jacques Perrin, a member of both the executive committe at Syndicat National des Antiquaires and of the Biennale des Antiquaires recently said to the Financial Times: "Some people say to me 'why do you invite jewellers such as Harry Winston to the Biennale?' Because they pay for their booth is my reply. They too have rich customers and they sell luxury things." So why not luxury wine estates in a near future as the wine business also penetrated this luxury segment.With the reputation for producing the priciest and rarest wines in the world, the presence of some wine estates may be as natural sa some jewellers. Presenting wines in a prestigious fair which shows the most exceptional objects to a large public (it is in fact open to the public) and with a population of international connaisseurs would be a great opportunity for wine estates. Making contacts with existing and new clients and follow up with them when the wines will be presented in the home country of the collectors could be an advantage. Great wines are about art, craftmanship, excellence and brand's status. And in that sense, I would expect in the future to see some of them in this exceptional Biennale I would never miss.(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Harvest in Europe: First indications from the Best Winemakers

2010-09-10T09:38:00.002+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr) Europe is now scrutinizing its vines to check maturity and find the best period to pick grapes. White grape varieties' harvest already started in some part of this region but most grapes still have to get picked and then will follow the natural process that will change them into wine. I was discussing with some great winemakers in Europe and they all were excited about this new harvest. Spain, Portugal, France...It is always surprising to find that Europe, with all its beautiful wine regions, have plenty of different stories to tell when it comes to climate effect. I was talking with Cristiano Van Zeller, the winemaker at Quinta Vale Dona Maria who is producing white wines and red wines including Ports, and his first indications were quite enthusiastic: "We already started harvesting white grapes last friday. 2010 was a good year, with quite heavy rains until end of june, and hot during the summer with cool nights. In terms of volume, it seems that volume produced will be among the highest reported in Douro. At today, degrees are still low which is quite rare in our region. Red grapes' harvest should start soon but we do not rush for harvest as phenolic maturity is not yet obtained." During this discussion, we also talked with Cristiano Van Zeller about Spain as he is also producing a beautiful wine in Toro. "Toro suffered from hot temperatures during this summer. It was hot during the day and still warm at night. Harvest will take place earlier this year with a splendid quality and mature grapes. Old vines particularly will produce a good quantity of wine with a beautiful balance. This year, I am particularly impressed by the expression of ripe fruits that grapes will deliver."
Further North in Europe, I was then talking with Christine Vernay who is producing spectacular Condrieu and Cote Rotie at Domaine Georges Vernay: "Right now we are just having the right weather to complete the maturity for our white and red grapes. A bit of rain which was necessary and then a cool weather. I am very excited about this harvest and I walk everyday in the parcels to check the maturity and the taste of the grapes. It is always exciting to define the best day to pick the grapes and get them at their best potential." In September and October, more stories from winemakers in Europe will be reported everyday on www.vitabella.fr.

Three Lessons from the world’s second-biggest luxury goods group that Luxury Wine Estates should learn.

2010-09-09T09:46:00.003+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). Richemont, the world’s second-biggest luxury goods group, announced yesterday higher sales in the first five months of the year, but warned that momentum might not be maintained for the full year.The maker of Cartier jewellery and Montblanc pens said sales had jumped 37 per cent in the five months to the end of August, compared with the same period last year.By product, Richemont’s specialist watch brands, led by upmarket Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre, proved strongest, with unadjusted sales up 40 per cent. Jewellery, including the Van Cleef & Arpels brand, rose 32 per cent. These are the facts and let's now analyze it through the lenses of a luxury wine estate owner. Three major lessons could be learnt and could benefit to the success of luxury wine estates in the future.

1) Sustainability of the economic recovery
If sales were satifying during the first 6 months, luxury wine estates should be very cautious about their estimates for the end of the year. Richemont pointed out that the strong growth was achieved on the back of low comparisons and that the second half will be a tougher period. Expensive wines may suffer from a lower demand in restaurants or wine shops if this recovery is not sustainable.

2) A strong distribution network in Asia
Richemont demonstrated that they were very successful by expanding in Asia to offset a slowdown in the U.S. and Europe. Asia proved particularly buoyant, with sales up 51 per cent in the period (36 per cent adjusted for currencies and the acquisition). At the same period, Europe and the Americas were very resilient. In fact, Hong Kong has become the biggest market for Swiss watches as shoppers from mainland China buy timepieces there to avoid luxury tax. Wealthy Chinese consumers own 4.4 luxury watches on average, according to the Hurun Wealth Report, which estimates there are 875,000 people in the country who have assets of more than 10 million renminbi ($1.47 million). The same trend is happening for luxury wines (and more particularly for French wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy) and therefore estates must build stronger relationships with this part of the world. A strong distribution network in Asia is now key for wine estates if they want to develop sales and increase margins.

3) An online strategy for luxury goods
Selling luxury wines online? An idea that still sounds crazy for many luxury wine estates. In fact, even if the wine business is tied to strict regional rules with strong restrictions on selling bottles on the internet, the recent acquisition of U.K.-based fashion retailer Net-A-Porter.com by Richemont shows the luxury market is going online very rapidly. Richemont announced that Net-a-Porter, the luxury goods market website they bought in April, will soon expand internationally (they currently sell to customers in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East) which is a strong sign about their confidence in this business. This online business is a way to reach people who do not live in places where Richemont brands are sold and who can afford buying expensive items. This argument could also be used for luxury wines but estates are sometimes still reluctant to go further into this online business.(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

The vintage which could make Robert Parker even more influential on Luxury Rhone Valley Wines

2010-09-02T03:49:00.004+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). It has been traditionally considered that the famous american wine critic Robert Parker was essentially influential on Bordeaux wines and more specifically on first growths. His current visit in Rhone Valley, for mainly tasting the 2009s, may build a stronger image of his name in a near future not only as a Bordeaux specialist but also as a Rhone Valley specialist.
Currently in Rhone Valley to taste the 2009s, Robert Parker is preparing a future review of this beautiful vintage. What may result from his tastings could impact on US sales and abroad as it already happened for 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape, which he considered in his reviews as the greatest vintage he ever tasted in this region. Well, wine professionals and consumers as well should be prepared to such an announcement for the 2009s he is tasting now. Let's guess his choice will be more on the reds than on the whites (which sometimes have a lack of acidity and nervosity) but considering Rhone Valley wines from the northern part (Cornas, Saint Joseph, Hermitage, Cote Rotie), he may review this vintage as The best he ever tasted in Northern Rhone Valley and could compare it to some great old vintages ending in 9. If this is the case, after the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape, this new strong opinion on Rhone Valley wines would be marketed worldwide and his recommandations would take even more value in a region where some of the greatest luxury wines are produced. If wine professionals should go even further, they should guess about which appellation would be highlighted by Robert Parker in 2009. If it is Hermitage, it will have a strong and powerful marketing effect on these wines which are produced in a very limited area and which still deserve a bigger recognition in many parts of the world. And then the last guess would be: who would be the top performer in Hermitage for this 2009 vintage? Maybe Chapoutier, which is always producing great Hermitage wines that Robert Parker appreciates much ("L'Ermite" and other small parcels). Chave, whose production for whites or reds is always of extremely high level. But let's guess the one who could much more benefit from this Robert Parker's effect (just because his flagship wine has been underperforming in terms of wine critics' scores over the last few years) would be a famous producer which makes the most renowned name in the Hermitage Appellation. Did you get it? I give you a hint: his wine (red or white) is called after a religious building and it is particularly admired for the 1961 vintage. All this story is just a guess but I love to guess...(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

Medoc Marathon: when Sport and Luxury Wine make the perfect blend.

2010-09-01T11:58:00.003+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). I was recently attending a wine tasting in Dublin and an irish lady came to me and asked me if I would attend this year the famous Medoc Marathon. I said I would not be able to take part to it and that I was rally sad because this marathon is a beautiful sport event as well as a magnificent human experience. She said she would never miss it because she never felt like making extraordinary efforts when she was running in such a beautiful scenery. Then she started to talk about the most beautiful chateaux, the first growths and all the most renowned names that Medoc could boast.In fact, when you have experienced former editions yourself and have a quick look at the program this year on www.marathondumedoc.com, you are pretty impressed by the great adventure it is. Shared by 8,500 people coming from all over the world, this adventure shows that the passion for both sport and wine can go together very well. And I am convinced that this human experience would not be as successful if it was not also about great wines. Also, behind this adventure, you can discover the most efficient communication tool that was invented up to now to build a stronger image of Bordeaux wines in the world. In fact, as I said to this charming irish lady, if we would rate this blend, it would be the perfect note: 100 points or 100/100. In that sense, as more and more people want to experience, one day, a 100 points' blend, the success of this Marathon seems unlimited. Now, being obliged to miss this edition, I have a great thought to all my friends running this marathon and all the joggers who will attend this event. And, of course, I will raise a glass of fine wine to them, right at 9.20 am on saturday 11 September when the Handi-race start will be announced. (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

The fabulous Love Story between Wine and China

2010-06-28T07:18:00.002+02:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). On June 19, a Maotai bottle (the traditional chinese wine) produced in 1959 sold for 1.03 million yuan (around $150,000) during a wine auction. At the same time, Lafite Rothschild was announcing its historical most expensive En Primeur Price for the 2009' vintage and, among explanations, comments were that this price was fuelled by a strong demand from the chinese market. In fact, China often comes back as a major subject when talking about wine in general because this country shows strong capabilities on the production side, the investment side and the consumption side at the same time.

- On the consumption side, most has been written about realities and potential. On the high-end market, the strong demand on Chateau Lafite Rothschild and its wide range of wines with the "five arrows" logo shows the power of this market.

- On the investment side, Chinese wine companies are interested in expanding their wine portfolio. They intend to sell more in China but also to produce more in some other parts of the world where harvest seasons are different from China. The last rumor came recently when, immediately right after Foster's announced the split of its wine and beer operations, the Shanghai-based Bright Food company was considered as eyeing the Hunter Valley operations focused on the Rosemount brand. On its part, the sino-French listed Dynasty Fine Wine Group announced at Vinexpo Hong Kong they may buy vineyards in Australia, New Zealand, Chile and France. Over the next few years, Chinese companies will invest more and more in the global wine industry.

- On the production side, the objectives of chinese wine companies could be summarized by a comment recently made by Bai Zhisheng, chairman of Dynasty Fine Wine Group, in an interview to Bloomberg: "I want the best quality of the old world vintages and the production scale of the new world wines." Chinese companies develop their own production (Chinese wine production is about 1 million metric tons a year) and at the same time want to go up-market. Visitors in China can not ignore about Great Wall or premium brands Château Junding, Changyu, Dynasty and Dragon Seal. But there are many other brands now focusing on high quality such as Silver Heights produced by the female winemaker Emma Gao up in the Helan Mountain region of Ningxia province. Or Grace Vineyard, a successful producer of Chinese red and white wine based in Shanxi province. In fact, quality is improving dramatically and these wines are showing to the world that delicious wines are produced in China. And this is not a coincidence if the successful wine producer Torres decided to include these two chinese estates in their distribution network throughout China....(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr)

Are 2009' Bordeaux First Growths overpriced?

2010-06-24T11:16:00.002+02:00

(This editorial is the executive summary of an exclusive VitaBella report)(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Chateau Mouton Rothschild announced their 2009 primeur prices to negociants: €450 per bottle. Then negociants will add their margins before selling to wine merchants who will also add margins. In fact as negociants did not get a lot of wine in the first tranche of their 2009 en primeur (the amount of wine released in a tranche is a fraction of the actual production), they have to wait for the second and maybe the third tranche (prices will increase at each level) and then the price of €450 per bottle will be an old story. Already at this level of €450, Lafite is up by more than 300% compared to last year and around 50% compared to 2005' En Primeur price. Lafite not only repositioned itself in terms of price but also in terms of leadership, being the first with Mouton Rothschild among first growths to announce its EP price. If We often read and hear that the chinese market is sending prices to the roof, we may wonder if these 2009' Bordeaux First Growths are not overpriced and if chateaux are not creating a speculative bubble that will soon explode. In fact, another conclusion could be that first growths are not overpriced but that some other Bordeaux wines truly are as the luxury wines' market is facing a new environment. In the VitaBella report entitled "Are 2009' Bordeaux First Growths overpriced?", some examples of overpriced 2009' En primeur Bordeaux wines are given and some details are highlighting the facts that 2009 First growths may not be overpriced but some other En Primeur Chateaux Prices may be much too high. This report actually mentions three important points:
- The first growths are a strictly limited number of chateaux which produce long ageing wines with a unique taste. Every wine lover in the world dreams about having, one day, the experience of tasting one of them. In this wine lovers' community which expands globally, some people are ready to get this experience at a high price or at any price... So if the question is "Who will drink these highly-priced bottles?", the answer would be "Some of us and certainly a new clientele compared to the one who bought first growths over the last 20 years ago".
- Demand is changing: First, for price reasons, French Hypermarkets are not buying 2009s as heavily as they did in the past. This has a minor down effect on the speculation bubble on first growths but may impact strongly other Bordeaux wines which decided to increase dramatically their prices in 2009. Secondly, the market is pickier: the economy is still convalescent and the reputation for conservatism of first growths helps as buyers move away from the "showy" wines of upstart brands.Thirdly, a new clientele is coming in with a "Flying to quality" approach which makes the prices for 2009 first growths very high. This did not happen for 2007 and 2008 as "quality standards" were not met according to this new clientele.
- The impact of the increased liquidity on the secondary market is strong on the prices of First Growths Bordeaux wines.For sure, investors are attracted by good returns but liquidity is a major indicator they consider in their investment decision process. And over the last few years, the secondary market has never been as liquid as it is (transparency also increased thanks to a better and faster information). Recent wine auctions and new online trading platforms (such as the coming platform Berry Bros’ BBX, the Berrys’ Broking Exchange launching in July) are also showing positive signs to buyers of en primeurs first growths. But investors will mainly focus on the top wines which are regularly traded and not at other Bordeaux wines. Even if these wines got excellent scores and were priced at a very high price at an early stage of their life which we call En Primeur...

LVMH and Cheval Blanc...Welcome to the new world of luxury wines' brand extension

2010-06-10T12:02:00.003+02:00

(Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr). LVMH, the luxury goods company, recently announced they would enter the five-star hotel management business, initially through a partnership with Egypt's Orascom Development Holdings, to build two resorts in the Middle East. These first two hotels are scheduled to open in 2012 in Egypt and Oman. The hotels will be branded Cheval Blanc, after the Michelin-starred resort based in Courchevel opened in 2006 by Group Arnault. The hotels will also showcase some of LVMH's other brands - the Cheval Blanc resort already has Louis Vuitton and Dior shopping outlets as well as a Givenchy spa.
Even if a number of fashion and luxury brands have already diversified into hotels (Armani, Bulgari, Versace...), this is the first time the name of a luxury wine is put upfront as a hotel brand. In fact, LVMH is showing to the major actors in the luxury wine business that brand extension has to be integrated to the full strategy of a major estate. And as LVMH explained, it is a "natural extension of activities in luxury hospitality". For sure, not all estates will be able to enter the luxury hotel business. But as LVMH is doing, estates should consider, at first, opportunities which will commit no capital expenditures and have no management risk. In fact, there are plenty of opportunities and we will discover them over the next few years. But Luxury wine estates should get prepared now if they want to be successful in this brand extension strategy.(Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr).

Hermes and its new brand « Shang Xia »: a good lesson for luxury wines

2010-06-09T10:33:00.003+02:00

(Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr). Hermes launches a new brand, called Shang Xia (meaning “topsy-turvy” in Mandarin), in the lucrative Chinese market. Shang Xia will include ready-to-wear and decorative arts inspired by Chinese culture and traditions of craftsmanship. They will be made using Chinese raw materials and artisanal know-how, Hermes said. Shang Xia’s creative director is Qiong-Er Jiang, daughter of a noted Chinese architect. The new brand will be tailored for the Chinese market where Hermes lags behind its competitors. The brand will also be distributed in Paris in one of the large department store. As some would think at first, this move is not a matter of producing and offering cheaper products to the chinese markets. China's tradition is anchored into a long history of talented artists who are appreciated by the entire nation. In fact, these artists are part of the education of children at school and this art culture is deep in their roots. For centuries, it shaped their way of seeing differently the world and, among it, the luxury world. Hermes demonstrates its strength in taking the high risk of going into that direction and being the first in the luxury sector to do so (in fact, Tang is another luxury brand which could be comparable). Hermes shows that it understood the chinese market should be marketed with its specific language (so a specific chinese name for the new brand), specific culture (so a specific range of products with a chinese creative director)...Hermes does not adapt to a specific country. Hermes creates a chinese brand. Hermes does not intend to create a low cost brand in China. They create a luxury brand in China. Shang Xia is not a brand for the chinese market. ShangXia is a brand for the chinese community based all over the world.

How is it related to the luxury wine business? For luxury wines, selling globally is essential and having your wine brand marketed internationally is key. This is the Global approach. In the wine business, the "Glocal" approach (global and local) is impossible as it is difficult to replicate your soil, your estate and all the rest in any other place in the world. But the "Shang Xia" approach is possible. We already saw it, over the last 20 years, with the acquisitions of estates or with the entire creations of estates by "old world" wineries in order to have their own production of "New World" wines. But it was a false "Shang Xia" approach as most of the time only "non autochtonuous" grapes were planted to try to replicate what was done in the Old World. "False" does not mean these wines are bad (some of them get excellent scores from renowned international experts) but "false" means that the cultural local approach was not fully completed as, most of the time, wineries did not care much about autochtonuous grapes or specific local winemaking techniques. Being in the luxury sector obliges to respect some cultural codes but also to set trends. Using autochtonuous grapes, something wine experts are considering more and more now when they try to discover fine wines, and making a wine with a typical and unique great taste could be the "Shang Xia" approach for luxury wines. In this approach, most of the time wineries would consider the help of local winemakers with a strong knowledge of a specific autochtonuous grape (as Gulfi did in Sicily with Salvo Foti, the world renowned winemaker for Nero d'Avola). It will need a long education to make this approach famous among a large public but already wine lovers know about it. Pinotage and a luxury wine in South Africa? Kanoncop is going that way. Nerello Mascalese on Etna? Great wines show the potential. The "Shang Xia" approach is already making progress in the world of fine wines. (Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr).

Château Gruaud Larose, first Second Growth to offer its 2009 as futures

2010-06-08T07:35:00.004+02:00

(Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr). There is always some suspens around the announcement of top Bordeaux wines' futures. Sometimes this suspens is unbearable for wine merchants and collectors. This was the case in the past for great vintages and it certainly is the case for 2009, a vintage many wine experts rated as the best vintage ever. This suspens makes the waiting time even longer and many stories are told during that period, including that one: prices for top Châteaux will be insane. Consequently, the great vintage and the strong demand particularly from China have brought a lot of attention internationally on the futures prices of these Châteaux. Finally Château Gruaud Larose was the first Second growth to announce 2009 Futures yesterday. For a Second Cru Classé from the Saint Julien appellation, the price of £35.95 exc VAT per bottle which is proposed by a UK wine merchant on internet seems fair. And not insane as it was expected. Sold below $50 as futures, this proposal for a second growth seems attractive, and more particularly for a wine which “is the finest Gruaud Larose since the 1990" according to Robert Parker and which should "last for 30-40".With a 94-97 score in Wine Spectator, this "big wine" seems a good opportunity for wine lovers. Will this announcement from Château Gruaud Larose give a clear indication for the whole market of 2009 top Bordeaux Futures? Yes and this clear indication is that everything is unclear...Thinking about En Primeur prices reminds us of the definition given by most experts of the quality of this 09 vintage: heterogeneity. 2009 Futures Prices like quality will be heterogeneous. And this is a fact now, 2009 Château Gruaud Larose EP price (a mere 12% increase compared to 2005 future for this wine) shows that some châteaux at top level will stay reasonable. Now let's see first growths which should release their futures over the month. And let's see how speculation could impact some of these wines which, without having announced yet EP prices, are already proposed by some wine merchants to collectors... (Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr).

Romanee Conti, a luxury wine in a vineyard comparable to rare tea plantations in China...

2010-06-04T07:25:00.001+02:00

(Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr). Most of the wine lovers have heard recently about a frightening story in Burgundy at the world-renowned Domaine de la Romanee Conti. Aubert de Villaine, co-director of the Domaine, received a few months ago a letter which threatened to poison all the vines of his vineyards if he did not respond positively to a blackmail scheme. At a retail price of over Eur 8,000 for a bottle of DRC's Romanée-Conti (only 4.4 acres), the extortionist decided to focus on a specific estate which is highly regarded internationally. Even if the man was arrested, this story makes security issues for luxury wines a new topic to investigate. In China, the same kind of issue has been adressed in a specific domain: rare tea trees. Far from the lovely villages in Burgundy, luxury tea producers took a measure in order to protect their unique expensive production: hire guards.In the Wuyi Shan chain of mountains, located in the northern part of the Fujian province, is a natural reserve with pure water, deep hills and some unique tea plantations. The "yan cha", as they called it in Chinese, is a wulong variety planted on extremely steep hills. In these beautiful mountains, you can still find specific tea plants from the best "grands crus". Da Hong Pao, Tie Luo Han or Shui Jing Gui are some names that come to mind and which are still alive in this place. Protected by guards, night and day, this small reserve of first generation tea plants only produce a few hundreds of grams sold at extremely high price. Rare, expensive like Domaine de la Romanee Conti is. But protected 24 hours a day, unlike Romanée Conti...(Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr).

Acker Merrall’s luxury wine auction or the new battle between First Growth Bordeaux in China

2010-06-03T01:16:00.002+02:00

(Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr). On last 28 & 29 May, “The Imperial Cellar” (owned by entrepreneur Eric Greenberg) sale achieved a record HK$152 million at Hong Kong auction. Top lot of Henri Jayer Vosne Romanée Cros Parantoux 1999 set a New World Auction record. But even more important, a new world record was set for a Château Margaux lot sold at auction. At a time when Château Lafite Rothschild is taking a big slice of the chinese cake, it is very important for Château Margaux to make this kind of appearance in order to develop brand image and increase market share in China. After a few years of craziness on Lafite, First Growth Bordeaux are now aware of the huge potential of the chinese market and understand they should develop brand awareness by attracting chinese eyeballs. This game is particularly attractive if you consider how successful Lafite is today in China, Hong Kong and Macau: Château Lafite Rothschild's sales should be added to some other wines such as Carruades de Lafite and other wines branded under the same logo. In order to achieve its goal, Château Margaux needs to develop a communication strategy, promote its luxury brand wine in China and also, among others, introduce Pavillon Rouge (second wine). In this strategy, having Château Margaux wines at the largest ever wine auction to be held in Asia and the second biggest wine auction of all time worldwide was essential. In fact, this auction was a unique occasion for Château Margaux to get the attention of Asia’s most serious wine collectors and bidders from around the world. So in addition to the "Imperial Cellar" sale, five unique lots consigned directly by Château Margaux, were sold with net proceeds being donated to the Great Wall Society of China to assist with the preservation of this United Nations Cultural World Heritage site. And this superlot of 360 bottles (1979-2007) from Château Margaux Private Cellar has set a New World Auction Record for any Château Margaux lot ever sold anywhere in the world. Now let's see if Château Margaux will be as successful as Lafite is in China within a few years...(Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr).

Wine: Robert Parker, Primeur 2OO9 and eRobertParker.com

2010-04-27T11:50:00.004+02:00

(Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr). WINE: From today, you will have to pay to get access to Robert Parker's wine discussion forum. Some of you may have received this e-mail: "On April 27, the entire Mark Squires' Bulletin Board on eRobertParker.com will become a subscriber-only forum, open only to subscribers of Robert Parker's Wine Advocate or eRobertParker.com."
eRobertParker.com decided to make it that way instead of continuing and developping a two-tier system with, on one side, a free subscription forum and, on the other side, a paid subscription to a forum with complementary offers and informations. Some kind of offers we find in Bordeaux with a Premier Grand Vin and a second wine, not free but much more affordable, which gives consumers an opportunity to get a feeling of what happens there. In fact, by making this announcement, Robert Parker creates a members-only club of wine lovers who pay to get a place (here a virtual place on erobertparker.com) and where people can meet and discuss with other club members. Building a club membership business rather than a community or, in other words, building a luxury community. A club where people will exchange about the best wines in the world. A bit like sharing a discussion between members at the bar of the select Saint Andrews Golf Club in Scotland or at the Kee Club restaurant in Shanghai. I have to admit I love these places.
As mentioned in the e-mail, the amount of work required to supervise "the huge volume of posts has become increasingly time consuming and expensive". In fact, since November 2001 when it was launched, "the board became rapidly the Internet's premier forum for wine discussion". This position of international leading forum on wine topics gives erobertparker.com the opportunity to ask for a subscription. People will have to take the full package: they subscribe to Wine Advocate or to eRobertParker.com and they are allowed to get in the discussion forum. The internet media business showed the way in this paid subscription model. Wall Street Journal decided to do so quite early but they also decided to keep some information free (a very limited amount in fact) to attract some internet users' eyeballs who may in the future decide to get a subscription.

Robert Parker is Robert Parker. The internet is full of pages filled with wine critics but Robert Parker became a reference in that field. In that sense, very early, people agreed to pay for articles. Now eRobertParker.com has enough credibility to be the first to announce a paid subscription forum access. It may give others the idea to follow that business model.

Moreover, Robert Parker is not Robert Parker only. In fact eRobertparker.com is not only about Robert Parker but also about Antonio Galloni, Neal Martin, Jay Miller, Lisa Perrotti Brown, David Schildknecht, Mark Squire and others. They all give their point of view and this created a sphere of wine critics whose opinion is today highly regarded. Paying to get access to their articles is now relevant for most wine lovers and for any person working in the international wine business. The Wine hub is creating its own luxury environment with expensive wines, glamour and now a paid subscription forum access. Some privileged like us are lucky enough to get access to the best wines and to taste the most expensive ones. Some may get access to eRobertParker's wine forum, exchange with wine lovers about their passion and comment on their recent tasting experience of a spectacular 1840 Chateau Gruaud Larose. Some may not. Twenty years ago, it would have been difficult for wine lovers to understand such a change. But the global demand has dramatically changed the wine sphere and has expanded its "luxury part" up to a point where now even wine discussion forums are not free anymore. Times change so quickly...(Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr).

Singapore, a great place in Asia for Luxury Wines

2010-04-20T14:16:00.003+02:00

(Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr). In Singapore, the 11th edition of WSA (Wine & Spirits Asia) may deliver this week a positive message to luxury wine estates: The Lion City offers great opportunities for expensive wines.

In fact, when the subject comes to Asia and luxury wines, some estate owners only think about China and Hong Kong. Asia has other interesting markets for expensive wines including South Korea and Singapore. Wine drinkers in Singapore are definitely getting increasingly sophisticated, and wine consumption is going up. People in Singapore have a mature palette in general and wine lovers have been collecting wine for over a decade. The importance people place on wines is increasing and it is not rare to find wine cellars in their home. And Singapore's expatriate population (about 150,000 Westerners) is just a contributing factor for growth in this market. Studies show that Singaporean wine consumers are mainly in the middle to upper income bracket and that they tend to be mostly Chinese, aged between 25 to 50 years old. Add to this, 10 million tourists a year, wine cellars, boutiques and duty free shops at Changi Airport, and estate owners may understand the great opportunities of this market for luxury wines.
With Hong Kong's tax being zero, will Singapore lose the game to be a luxury wines' hub in Asia in the future? Competition is strong and China is a hugely attractive market. But Singapore's central location, high degree of organisation and convenience still make the country an important re-export centre regionally. In fact, year after year, Singapore continues to develop its re-export business of luxury wines with Malaysia (where the Chinese population forms the wealthiest group of consumers), Indonesia and Thailand (markets mainly constituted by expatriate business people and tourists) or Vietnam (where the overall wine consumption is still very small). In the Lion City, the current tax system does not make a huge impact on luxury wines (tax stands at US$48.2 per 100 bottles, multiplied by the alcohol percentage, with on top of this a regular 7% Goods and Services Tax). With this system, the most expensive wines are much less impacted than cheap wines and the result has been that many visitors from around the region fly to Singapore to pick up premium wines. Some businesses in Southeast Asian countries also prefer to get their wines stored in Singapore and have small quantities re-exported from time to time. A Thai importer, for example, who will have to pay a 400% tax if he imports directly from France, will prefer to import from Singapore and pay a fraction of this. So Singapore's strength in logistics is key to develop further opportunities with these countries. Singapore shows a fine infrastructure, with bonded temperature controlled warehouses just next to the docks. This means that the precious wine doesn't sit on the docks in the heat for hours but is safely stored at optimum temperature in a warehouse. And this last point becomes a real advantage for wine merchants when you consider the current prices of luxury wines in the international markets...(Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr).

Vinitaly 2010: Interview with Vito Catania, owner of Azienda Gulfi, about the 4 Crus in Sicily

2010-04-06T06:35:00.006+02:00

(Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr). Special Vinitaly 2010 - With 95 points to Nerosanlore 2005, Robert Parker showed to the world that some of the best wines in the world could also come from Sicily. Planted with autochtonuous grapes (including Carjcantj, Nero d'Avola, Nerello Mascalese), Azienda Gulfi's vineyards are famous for a limited production of 4 Crus (Nerobufaleffj, Neromaccarj, Nerosanlorè, Nerobaronj) created by Vito Catania. Taking part to Vinitaly 2010, Vito Catania answered our questions before heading to Verona.

How would you define your wines?

It is extremely difficult to answer this question as we have a large range of wines with different traditional grapes. I would say that some have a vibrant fruit with delicate tannins and a nice acidity: these wines can be drunk very young. And some, like our 4 Crus and Reseca, a red wine from Etna, need a long ageing. Our Crus could be compared to some great chateauneuf du pape that I enjoy drinking when they are young but which are extraordinary after a long ageing. For example, we are having now, at home, some Nerobufaleffj or Neromaccarj 2001. Delicate, elegant with a long finish, they develop beautiful aromas that you can not get at an early stage.
How do you explain this long ageing potential?

When I decided with Salvo Foti to isolate some parcels and make 4 different Crus, I already knew that these places had different expressions. Call it terroir or whatever, these diverse environments had always produced different wines that were traditionnally not blended. So, a long time ago sicilian farmers already knew that these parcels had something special, including their ageing potential. Moreover, we also work our vines organically. In fact, having "organically grown" written on our labels is not as important as the daily work we make in our vineyard. But I find that, year after year, we got a better definition of the different soils and also gained in balance. It is incredible how fresh these wines are when you consider the high temperatures we have during the summer. Both, choosing specific terroirs and working naturally, helped Gulfi to make well balanced and long ageing wines. It is even more impressive on white wines, more particularly on Carjcantj. Year after year, these wines gained minerality and tasting 1999 now is a real pleasure.

And what about Reseca, your wine on the Etna Mount?

On Etna, we have very old vines planted in Nerello Mascalese. Some are more than 100 years old and give a low yield but with an extreme concentration. Etna is very particular and Gulfi always wanted to keep the traditional working habits in this vineyard. Sometimes it is really hard, we have to invest a lot of time on these small parcels but the outcome is unique. Full of tannins, with a black colour, Reseca could not be compared to a specific wine. The first time I walked in this parcel, I got a special feeling: everything was quite, relaxing and so natural.The production is very limited but we are very proud to show this wine to the world as Etna has something I would call magical.(Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr).

Champagne Lanson and Luxury wines: when changing a name is more than a name change

2010-04-02T09:23:00.005+02:00

(Find some more news on www.vitabella.fr). Champagne has a long tradition on the luxury wines' market. Strategies may differ but, in a troubled economy, champagne producers like Champagne Lanson should prepare actively their companies for a successful future. Let's consider the example of Boizel Chanoine Champagne which recently reported a 2009 net income that decreased by 22 percent to 16.1 million euros, impacted by a drop in sales. On the day of this announcement, BCC also informed the market that they would ask shareholders to approve a name change to Lanson-BCC. This announcement is not only about telling the financial market that BCC may change its name but it is also about sending strong and positive messages externally and internally.

Announcing the name change to Lanson BCC sends some messages externally:

- As Lanson is a famous name, BCC wants to make the company more easily recognizable and more attractive to international fund managers. It may increase liquidity which is important for a listed company, as it may bring a better valuation of the BCC shares, which means a better valuation of the entire company. In fact, changing name adds stock market lustre.
- Changing name is not only about describing in a better way the new combined business but more about acquiring a new image and corporate identity. Changing name to Lanson BCC is a way to upgrade the overall image of a group which is competing in an environment where every single champagne brand puts strong efforts to gain new markets and increase margins.
- Changing name is a way for the management to enjoy a good reputation among investors for its ability to acquire and manage a big company. With this move, the management shows to the market that the first step of integrating Lanson into the group has been successfully done. In fact, at the time of the acquisition, in 2006, some wondered why Boizel Chanoine Champagne, with brands such as Philipponnat, Alexandre Bonnet, Chanoine, De Venoge and Boizel needed to acquire a big champagne producer. Now the management wants to tell the market that adding Lanson - a champagne house founded in 1760 by François Delamotte - was a great achievement. It was not only about increasing the total group production by 6 million bottles per year, this acquisition was also about gaining in terms of image thanks to the quality of the Lanson champagnes and particularly its prestigious "Noble Cuvée" Vintage.
- Changing name sends a strong message for the future. The management shows how confident they are on capitalizing on Lanson brandname to improve shareholder value on medium and long-term. We can easily imagine that synergies have been found between Lanson and the rest of the group since this acquisition. But it now shows the management will be able to consider, in a better and faster way, every single synergy that could make their group stronger internationally.

And announcing a name change to Lanson BCC also sends some messages internally:

- With this name change, the message sent by the top management has a strong value. In fact, on the aspect of Human Resources, changing to Lanson BCC shows to Lanson employees that they are part of an entire group. Not only may it help the group to retain competent employees but it also may facilitate to attract new forces. All the employees of the group will consider being part of a strong, powerful and efficient company. With this new name, all group employees will really feel working for the N°2 champagne producer and may feel more involved into group's mission and future objectives.
- Changing name to Lanson BCC is also a way to more involve the Lanson management team on strategic goals. In fact, adding Lanson to the name shows a strong willingness from the top management to develop the image of Lanson globally, to manage Lanson brand reputation proactively and to get a positive impact on international sales and finally on the stock price. So, with this name change, the Lanson management team should understand their brand may be strongly marketed in the future.

Changing a name is definitely more than a name change. There are even some potential risks as increasing visibility of a strong commercial brand such as Lanson on the group level could indirectly affect the brand in the case of a group crisis or of an extremely bad share price evolution. But now this new name Lanson BCC still needs to be approved by shareholders. Then will come the time to celebrate. With Champagne, of course! (More news on www.vitabella.fr).

Robert Parker, Bordeaux Primeurs and the New Decade: To be Graceful or not to be

2010-03-17T10:49:00.005+01:00

(This executive summary is part of an exclusive VitaBella report)(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

At the time when Robert Parker is in Bordeaux to evaluate the quality of the 2009s, this new decade may send a strong signal to the world of luxury wines: dark, concentrated, full of tannins and strong in alcohol are outdated criteria.
In the past, some producers followed these strict criteria in order to make their wines fit into a special premium niche. If they had full points in each of these criteria then they could have expected top international ratings and priced their wines very high. 2010 just started and the new decade will certainly change this point of view on luxury wines: Elegance and Grace will be key in the future. And to start with, let's be clear on the message: less alcohol doen't mean only lower alcohol but a better integrated alcohol and less tannins does not mean a lower level of tannins but elegant tannins. In this new decade, it may be less about analytical figures and more about how elegant and graceful the wines are.

This new approach of Luxury wines is not particular to Bordeaux but it seems that the Bordeaux Primeurs' tasting week, at the beginning of a new exciting decade, will make it recognized globally. All over the world, a new way of understanding luxury wines was already progressing in the last few years. Some great winemakers are saying it loud after having made experimentations, tasted their old vintage wines and discussed with some great european winemakers. A good example is Paul Draper at Ridge Vineyards who is making elegant wines in California. Not only does it please the delicate palate of the japanese owners of this beautiful estate but Paul Draper's wines age beautifully and do not need to be "big monsters" at release time. Many other great winemakers in the world share this position. Randall Grahm, founder of Bonny Doon Vineyard wrote: “In the new world, quality is generally associated with saturated color, soft tannins, new oak and overall power . . . sort of like evaluating music on how loud it is played and how big a horn section one is able to deploy . . . someone has to stop this madness.”

Bordeaux Primeurs, at the turn of a new decade, may be the time when the world will hear this message loud. Journalists, wine critics and buyers will have the chance to taste, at an early stage, a vintage where Mother Nature has given the best of itself. In terms of natural conditions, Châteaux mention that 2009 was exceptional. But during Bordeaux Primeurs' tasting, two worlds may oppose; the old approach of Luxury wines and the new approach of Luxury wines. Some Bordeaux 2009 may be powerful and strong in alcohol and some may be elegant and balanced. After the last two decades of "body-builded wines" attracting international eyeballs, momentum may have come that a majority of professionnals would favour a more "balanced and graceful" approach. Then terroir and men's work will come back on the front scene. Tools of science and technology from adjusting tannins or darkening the color to technics to lower alcohol will be of minor interest and the capacity of winemakers to get adapted to their environment will be privileged. That will make the difference between luxury wines and others. In 2010, Bordeaux Primeurs' tasting week may be the time when this signal will be sent to the world.(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

BMW, Audi and Forbes Reports: some good News for Luxury Wines?

2010-03-16T08:14:00.006+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). India, China, Brazil...The luxury industry has great prospects and luxury car manufacturers' recent comments should bring confidence to luxury wine producers. Even in a troubled economy, consumers are willing to pay high prices for those brands with a high level of reliability. At the time when BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke) and Volkswagen announced their earnings report and Forbes made public its Billionaires' list, it shows there is still money in this world and a strong appetite for luxury.

Earnings reports released by BMW and Volkswagen last week made the message clear enough: The market for luxury cars is recovering. Their sales stabilized on mature markets and grew in emerging countries like China and Brazil. In fact, luxury is doing pretty well: a soaring demand for higher-priced models like the top-of-line 7 Series contributed to BMW's gains. Sales of BMW’s most expensive cars (7 Series) showed a 36 percent increase to 52,680 cars. Moreover BMW said the X6 four-wheel-drive car and Z4 sports car also generated big sales increases. On its side, Volkswagen reported that its premium Audi unit accounted for almost all the operating profit of €1.9 billion. Emerging markets became a major focus and Audi wants to reach the N°1 position in India on premium car market by 2015. Clearly luxury car manufacturers see great prospects in a global evolving market.

Over the last 2 years, a lot of questions were raised internationally about how sustainable high prices for wines can be. Today, these questions are more particularly adressed to Bordeaux and Napa Valley wine producers. The car manufacturers' reports should make luxury wine producers less worried about their future than they may be at this period of time. But wineries should also be aware that if great opportunities effectively exist, 1) the markets for luxury have changed and 2) buyers' habits in the luxury world have also changed. These two points are extremely important and the new Forbes Billionaires' list was particularly interesting to understand where fortunes were today. For the first time in 16 years the richest man is not in the USA but from Mexico. Among the richest men in the world, 64 billionaires are chinese (versus 28 last year). These are the facts and luxury wine producers must take action in order to be in line with this new situation.

As a conclusion, Forbes has shown a new big picture and industry leaders revealed important figures and interesting medium to long-term strategies for luxury cars. In a similar position, wine producers must market their highly-priced bottles where luxury shoppers are. But only wineries with an up-to-date vision of the fast moving global environment will succeed in a troubled period.(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

Bordeaux En Primeurs: Château Gruaud Larose holds a Clinic with Leading International Wine Experts

2010-03-11T04:50:00.006+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). Right before the Bordeaux En Primeurs Tasting Week, Château Gruaud Larose will hold its annual clinic in one of the most peaceful place in the world: Gruaud Larose’s cellars. Every year, the clinics provide owners of Gruaud Larose wines, the opportunity to have their wines assessed by Philippe Carmagnac, Gruaud Larose's winemaker. In 2010, Jean Merlaut, the owner of Château Gruaud Larose, will take this opportunity to focus more specifically on vintages ending in ‘0’ from 1950 down to 1840. Traditionally at Château Gruaud Larose, some wine experts are associated to this important event. This year, Château Gruaud Larose will be honoured to include the following persons in its clinic committee:
- Jeannie Cho Lee, First Asian MW
- Andreas Larsson, Current World’s best Sommelier
- Neal Martin, Wine critics/collaborates with Robert Parker
- Ian d’Agata, Wine journalist/collaborates with Stephen Tanzer
- Eric Boissenot, Oenologist Consultant
“This annual clinic is a great moment for Château Gruaud Larose” said Jean Merlaut. “Every year, we write additional tasting comments in our historical books which reveal precious informations about each vintage at harvest time. Going back to 1840 is necessary because we have an increasing demand for the last 3 years, more specifically from Asia, to give recent tasting comments on very old vintages from Gruaud Larose.”
These bottles or magnums will be opened, tasted, judged and, if in good condition, will be topped up, recorked, recapsuled, a clinic back label will be affixed to certify the wine for quality and finally will be sold internationally to wine lovers. Thanks to this annual operation, only bottles in excellent condition are available for Gruaud Larose's customers. (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

A New Luxury Wine in South Africa

2010-03-09T09:16:00.005+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). Kanonkop, a south african winery, added a luxury wine to its commercial strategy. According to Decanter Wine Magazine, Kanonkop Black Label Pinotage 2006, from the renowned Stellenbosch farm, has sold out of its first 600 bottles at R1000 (€95) and will release 400 more in March. This certainly makes it the most expensive Pinotage wine in the world.

When a winery has for mission to ensure that "Kanonkop continues to be regarded as South Africa’s equivalent of a First Growth", you would not expect less. But for a winery whose most expensive wine was up to now Paul Sauer, a R270 traditional blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, it may sound strange. Moreover, Pinotage, a cross between pinot noir and cinsault, only makes up 6% of total vineyard area in South Africa and needs to get additional international coverage to be fully recognized.

But Kanonkop has a long history with this grape variety and built a strong credibility internationally. In fact, Kanonkop is renowned for its red wines and Pinotage makes up 50% of all its plantings. Their Pinotage vines, which have been retained as bush vines, were some of the first commercially planted Pinotage to be established at the Cape and most are over 50 years old.

At R1000, is it too expensive? In fact, when you only have 600 bottles on sale, you just have to give a call to your best friends and the deal is done. For the next vintages, time will tell as Kanonkop plans to sell 2012 "En primeur, Bordeaux style" and "develop a secondary market" by introducing the Kanonkop Black Label Pinotage 2012 in November to investors and the press while the wine is still in barrel.

Can a 100% Pinotage be a luxury wine? With a recently tasted Simonsig Redhill 2006 and other wines from Beyerskloof, DeWaal or Umkhulu, Pinotage shows a great potential. Moreover an increasing number of wine lovers appreciate autochtonous grape varieties and Pinotage has its place, by far, in the best ranks of wine critics' lists. And Kanonkop has such a long successful history that a new success seems easy to obtain for this great winery.(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

Champagne Roederer and why protecting your Luxury Wine Brand is Critical

2010-03-04T07:45:00.010+01:00

(This article is part of an exclusive VitaBella report)(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).
In the luxury wine market, a strategy focusing only on controlling quality, price and distribution network is not broad enough. The example of the French maker of Cristal champagne which is suing the Spanish maker of Cristalino sparkling wine reminds us that trademark infringement and unfair competition aspects must also be strictly monitored.
Why is it so important for a 300 US$ champagne producer to sue a spanish sparkling wine company which produces a 10US$ Cristalino Rose Brut? In fact, this is not about market shares (precise sales and marketing figures have been removed from the public court filings). It is about protecting a perennial brand, in other words a brand that is built to last for decades through bad and good economic conditions. Roederer wants to make sure that Cristal, a brandname they created in the past, will continue to develop in a rock-solid, lasting and recognizable brand. In that sense, this is a good example for luxury wine producers to consider the three major reasons why they should strictly monitor this kind of issues.
Social aspects

For Roederer, Cristal is not only a champagne, it is a "symbol of certain achievement in life,". Cristal is regarded by most as a symbol of wealth and status. In that sense, Roederer can not afford letting this brandname decline. On the contrary, Roederer must bring it even higher. All over the world, most consumers talk about Cristal Roederer and not the other way round, Roederer Cristal. On this aspect, the power of the Cristal brandname is very strong and protecting this name is key to reinforce the power of a name which is a symbol of status.

Accounting aspects

Most large companies value trademarks and brand names in their balance sheet. And increasing shareholder value is one of the top management's tasks over a medium and long term. So the higher the value of the brands, the higher the total value of the company will be in the future. This is the reason why protecting Roederer name is highly important and doing the same for Cristal brandname is key.
Brand extension aspects

If companies want to create and develop strong brands, they must protect them. If your business is global, you should protect them internationally. But you have to be fast and react immediately. At the end of the day, management's decision will always be related to how far they want to bring their brands and if brand extensions would be relevant for the company or not. If extending your brand - such as launching a new version of Cristal (Cristal Rosé is already one) or bringing to the market a new product attached to the Cristal brandname - is an opportunity in the future, it must be necessarily protected.

Some more aspects could be described to explain why a luxury wine producer should strictly monitor trademark infringement and unfair competition issues. And many more should come as
the power of brands in the future may continue to increase in the wine business. (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

Why an Italian Luxury Wine goes to En Primeur Tasting in Bordeaux?

2010-03-01T11:07:00.005+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). I was recently in Tuscany and visited one of the iconic wine producer with his Giorgio Primo, Giampaolo Motta. At La Massa, based in the renowned place of Panzano, Giampaolo makes Giorgio Primo, a wine that recently took 97 points in Wine Spectator for the 2007' vintage. I made a quick interview with him to understand why he was presenting Giorgio Primo 2009 during en Primeur tasting in Bordeaux at the end of March.
Why is 2009' Giorgio Primo presented to Bordeaux en Primeur?

GM: “And why not? Since the 2007 vintage which made us recognized among the best wines in the world, we have a strong demand from clients who are used to buy Bordeaux grand Cru en Primeurs. It makes this approach quite natural in a vintage 2009 which is as exceptional for La Massa as it is in Bordeaux.Moreover I am impassioned with grands crus from Bordeaux, so I am glad to associate my wine to those great wines during an exceptional tasting."
What is the history of Giorgio Primo?

GM: “Giorgio Primo gets back to the tradition in Tuscany. Since early 1600, vine growing in Tuscany was revolutionized by grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The leading person in this revolution was Cosimo 3rd of Medicis which was an expert and a great wine passionate. At La Massa, it is the history of generations and generations of people who worked these unique soils here in Panzano and bring their input on the noble grape varieties from Bordeaux. Indeed, if the history of La Massa goes back to 1490, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon varieties were found here nearly 400 years ago. I perpetuate this long history at La Massa with my own view, always with rigour and classicism.
How would you define Giorgio Primo 2009 ?

GM: "Imagine a Château in Bordeaux full of crazy and impassioned italians. This is what Giorgio Primo is, especially during a year which gave us extraordinary surprises. It is my way of interpreting the Grand Vin from Bordeaux with merlot, cabernet sauvignon and our delicious Petit Verdot. A Grand Vin with a unique italian crazyness! For this vintage 2009, just like 2007, Giorgio Primo shows finesse, balance, and silky tannins. In 2009 Petit Verdot brings a further complexity to cabernet sauvignon and merlot. It is the kind of wine which I like today for its freshness and its fine tannins, which I will also like in 10 years and which still will be completely crazy in 20 years. I adore the Grand Vin from Bordeaux after 15/20 years but I much prefer them with an italian crazyness touch. This is Giorgio Primo 2009! (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

Jeanjean and Laroche Wines: A successful Strategy is all about Momentum

2010-02-23T14:41:00.009+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). In France, Jeanjean (a languedoc based wine group created in 1870) recently took over the control of Laroche wines. In fact, JeanJean will own 49% of a new group called "Advini" - listed on the French stock exchange - a marriage between low priced Languedoc wines and premium Chablis wines. With 1,450 hectares of vineyards, this new Eur190 million revenue generating group Advini will be strong enough to devevelop market shares internationally.

For JeanJean, this operation makes sense. On one hand, Jeanjean generated 64% of its sales in France in 2009, mainly through supermarkets and hypermarkets. On the other hand, 85% of Laroche revenues are made from exports. Recently hurted by a slow demand in UK, Japan and Russia, Laroche may also have suffered from its strategy to get out of supermarkets and focus on hotels/restaurants a few years ago. During that same period of time, Jeanjean went upstream and bought, among others, Ogier in Chateauneuf du Pape and Antoine Moueix with its grands crus from Saint Emilion. With these two important acquisitions, Jeanjean also wanted to increase its market shares outside France. This strategy proved successful as 36% of total sales are now generated by exports compared to 3% a few years ago.

What's next for JeanJean? The management recently presented its strategy for the future including an objective, over the next 5 years, to increase its international activities to more than 50% of total sales. Acquiring Laroche helped the group to go fast in that direction. It also helped the group to get an access to 100 hectares in Chablis appellation. Advini's portfolio now counts among the most reknown appellations in the world: Chateauneuf du pape, Saint Emilion and Chablis are names that ring a bell to most of wine drinkers in the world. This is a very good start but objectives must still be achieved on the operational level. And on the strategical level, the management will have to consider a new issue after this operation with Laroche. Should Advini divest operations in Chile (16 hectares) and in South Africa (70 hectares)? This is an important decision the management should rapidly make. Was it relevant for Laroche to make this investment at the time, is not the question.The question is: To divest or not to divest? Will Chilean and South African wines bring more value to the group and help reach Advini's objectives more rapidly in the future or will it burn cash and waste efforts that could be allocated now elsewhere more efficiently? Considering momentum will be key in this decision. (More news on www.vitabella.fr).

Luxury Bordeaux wines "En primeur": Defining a pricing strategy to sell prestigious Bordeaux 2009 en primeur

2010-02-19T06:49:00.008+01:00

(This article is an executive summary from an exclusive 40 page VitaBella Report).(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

At the end of March 2010 will be held the official annual Bordeaux "En primeur" tastings. It will be a great opportunity for wine professionals, members of the trade and the media from all over the world, to gather in Bordeaux and taste Bordeaux 2009. And, even if the common thought is that "the ‘market’ dictates what prices the wines sell for", First Growth Chateaux and other prestigious names will have to define a pricing strategy like it happens in any industry where a luxury positioning is at stake.

Mouton Rotschild, Petrus, Lafite Rotschild, Haut Brion...All these great names will announce their release prices after the "en primeur" tastings. Defining a pricing strategy is a complex issue and some points should be considered before taking any decision:

- Chateaux should analyze their release prices' history in order to define a pricing strategy for 2009. Considering (or not) volatility a part of the prices' history at the chateau, owners should be aware that the pricing for this 09' vintage will show a big sign to the market.

- Chateaux should consider the economic situation, not only the economic realities of their own property but also the current situation on international markets.

- Chateaux should anticipate the "appreciation" of the vintage by top international wine critics. This is a very important point which is not made easy after a 2008' campaign which highlighted some divergent positions on wine tasting notes from key critics.

- Chateaux should speak with their customer base (brokers, wine merchants...) and anticipate opportunities that could influence positively the marketing of their wines. Among some opportunities, the "En primeur" on March 2010 may attract for the first time a community of chinese buyers who were more keen, over the last few years, on buying old or recent vintages. Chateaux owners should ask thewselves how these opportunities would impact positively their sales?

- Chateaux should evaluate the potential of their wine over a long-term. In fact, Over the life of a wine, critics make some "tasting reviews" to analyze the initial evaluation they gave during "en primeur". Major critics will review their notes and may give a "Second Life" to the wines.

- Above price, chateaux could decide and define an allocation on what is called the "first tranche": how many cases should the chateau propose for the first "offering". Chateaux are aware that the release price is the one that will be communicated to the world, that journalists will refer to when talking about the price of their 2009. Considering this point is all the more important as a price can rapidly make a positive or negative buzz among brokers and wine merchants.

Defining a successful pricing strategy for "En Primeurs" Bordeaux is not an easy task. A lot of aspects are not directly related to what the chateau actually did in 2009. And this year seems even more impacted by external issues with so much uncertainty still hanging on. In fact, after a tasting of some of the most prestigious Bordeaux 2009, the only certainty we can have is: 2009 is unbelievably spectacular! (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

Winter Olympics, Champagne and Ice Wine: and the winner is...

2010-02-15T09:23:00.004+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). At a time when Champagne producers expect a high level of consumption of their bubbles during the 2010 Winter Olympics, the greater benefit will certainly be to the Canadian wine industry. Ads and other marketing campaigns make British Columbia wines very attractive to every visitor.
Media tastings hosted by the B.C. Wine Institute in Vancouver and Whistler, promotional displays across Canada,the Inniskillin Ice Gallery (an outdoor tasting bar where the public can sample icewines from both Inniskillin's Okanagan Valley and Niagara Peninsula wineries)...You can not miss the PR campaigns that B.C. wine producers arranged. In a sense, every visitor should feel that a true Olympic menu must go with a B.C. wine. Otherwise it is not. Restaurant owners in British Columbia and particularly in Vancouver and Whistler will benefit from this work.
At this stage, there is no wonder why Vincor Canada (owner of Sumac Ridge, Jackson-Triggs, Nk'Mip, Inniskillin and See Ya Later Ranch...) is the official wine supplier of these Olympic and Paralympic Games. In fact, Jackson-Triggs, one of Canada's leading ice wine producers, is a major player in the province’s vineyards. And Jackson-Triggs Vidal Icewine is marketed as "the wine" to toast victories during the games. A great move as this wine is expensive and is considered by most visitors as a real treat to celebrate a great event. A great move also as it will benefit indirectly to the Corporate cousin Iniskillin ice Wines. Finally a great move as if you do not want a sweet wine, you can go for the "Esprit Chardonnay", Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot or Shiraz, a line of wines Jackson-Triggs created in honour of the games..

A great marketing strategy implemented by Vincor International, the Ontario-based arm of global wine, beer and spirits maker Constellation Brands. And the winner is... (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

Hermès and LVMH: Thoughts for Luxury Wine Estates

2010-02-09T19:19:00.003+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). Luxury groups Richemont, Hermès amd LVMH recently announced their 2009’ sales figures and presented forecasts for 2010. Figures showed that luxury performed well during fourth quarter but full year was quite difficult. LVMH pointed out that champagne sales had problems but 2010 seems to show a nice start. What should luxury wine estates learn from these big companies?

Presentations made to analysts showed that big luxury groups were reactive enough to achieve good results in a terrible global economic slowdown. In fact, luxury performed well at the end of the year and luxury groups are now quite optimistic about 2010’ forecasts. Nevertheless, this crisis has shown that consumers for luxury items have changed habits in 2009 and might never come back to their previous behaviour.

1) Consumers are looking for authentic and genuine luxury. All over the world, more and more people are attracted by luxury products (perfumes, clothes, bags, wines…) and are still willing to pay high prices to make their dreams come true. But they are more selective and choose the most recognized quality brands. In fact, this trend benefited, and will continue to benefit in the future, strong and well established brands. This means for wine estates that some expensive cuvees might never be as successful as they used to be…
2) Champagne is luxury and most champagne producers struggled on international markets with a lower demand and a strong pressure on prices. LVMH sales, down by 1% in 2009, were mainly impacted by wines and spirits (-12%) with champagne sales down by 16%. Champagne producers had difficulties on some historical markets such as UK but also in US, Spain, Italy, Russia and Japan. These are great markets for luxury wines but they strongly reduced their purchases in 2009. In fact, there was a country in 2009 which was still buying and drinking champagne but many champagne producers and wine estates had forgotten its real power: France. With 181 million bottles sold in 2009, France was key in that difficult year to maintain sales figures for champagne brands. In that sense, figures showed that luxury wine estates should be strong on their national market if they want to maintain a long-term profitable development.
3) In luxury, consumers are looking for an experience, not just a product. At Hermès, sales increased by 16% in proprietary stores while wholesale turnover was down by 17%. Inventory reductions due to a lower level of consumption can explain this decrease but a more important fact should be highlighted: consumers for luxury products want to “feel privileged and get a very special treatment” when they buy an expensive item. Entering a beautiful shop, talking to a staff with a high level of training, buying an item in a beautiful package and at the same time feel privileged to look at very expensive products is very exciting for consumers. For luxury wines, this means that the “new consumers” expect, from now on, a unique experience when they buy a wine. Something special beyond the quality of the wine. (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

Bordeaux Grand Cru and US Château & Estate Wines: The Story behind the Story

2010-02-05T08:33:00.009+01:00

(This is an executive summary from an exclusive VitaBella Report)(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

What is happening in such a world where the biggest US buyer of Bordeaux Grand Cru is jumping its approximately $100 million inventory in the market and, at the same time, a recently sold-out wine auction in Hong Kong of more than 800 lots has seen a 6-liter bottle of Chateau Lafite 1982 reaching HK$363,000 ($46,700), nearly twice its presale high estimate?
It is a strange world we are living in. A strange game "I love you, I hate you" where Bordeaux Grand Cru wines are right at the center. In fact, in the USA, Chateau & Estate Wines, a branch
of Diageo and the biggest distributor of Bordeaux in US since the 1970s, said they no longer will sell Bordeaux. And Decanter magazine recently reported that Vinfolio, the San Francisco-based internet wine retailer and fine wine service provider, has sought protection from bankruptcy. Launched in 2003 by former financier Steve Bachmann, this company had earned a stellar reputation over the past five years.At the same time,demand in Asia for first growth Bordeaux is soaring in the run-up to the celebrations, on 14 February, of the Year of the Tiger. Giving top wines as a gift has become trendy in China particularly at Chinese New Year and Autumn Festival times. In Hong Kong, twin 1.5 liter bottles of Chateau Petrus 1982 reached HK$435,600 and the city is proud of its 14 wine auctions worth almost HK$500 million held last year.
What should the Chateaux in Bordeaux learn from all of this?
1) US are and will continue to be a huge market for Bordeaux fine wines. For sure, the weak American dollar has not helped sales and a good but not great vintage such as 2007 has created little demand. The on premise business has definitely seen a significant decline at the high end and continues to sell through an inventory of slow moving wines. But with the early signs of a recovery in the economy, some restaurants buy again cases to re-build a shortened wine list. And on the long-run, the US market will continue to perform nicely for Bordeaux fine
wines.
2) The market for fine wines is global. This means that if some places may be in trouble to buy fine wines, some others may show a huge interest.Since Hong Kong scrapped wine duties in February 2008, demand for luxury wines spurred. I am always amazed to meet so many wine lovers in Asia who are eager to discover the fine wines from Bordeaux. This big community
of wine lovers in Asia already knows everything about the vintages and the terroirs. Europe, Americas and now Asia are the playing fields of Bordeaux Grand Cru wines.
3) In the 21st century, Chateaux should be proactive. The current courtier and négociant system is efficient and successful but chateaux need to be proactive to make sure that such a big announcement from Chateau & Estate Wines does not affect their sales and image. In fact, having your wines sold at a 40% discount does not only affect your sales in a short and medium-term, it will also affect your image on a long-term. Chateaux need to get closer to the market and better know and understand their customers' needs.
To be successful in the future, Châteaux should adapt now. Together with courtiers and negociants, Châteaux should start doing their own marketing to get closer to the regional markets, to their customers, such as distributors and wine merchants. This statement makes sense for any person related to any other industry in the world.The world has changed and habits should change. I am pretty sure that the announcement of Chateaux & Estate Wines will send a signal to the châteaux that it is the right time to define a successful marketing strategy. (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

Selling Wine in India: Reality and Strategy

2010-02-03T11:56:00.009+01:00

(This is an executive summary from an exclusive VitaBella report)(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).
The ending of the second edition of the India International Wine Fair made wine producers understand how difficult it was to sell wines in such a big country. For wine estates, making business in India is extremely attractive. China, India, Brazil...these are the big markets
everybody is currently talking about. In fact, taking into consideration the number of unhabitants and year by year growth figures regarding wine consumption (around 20% annual growth rate over the last few years), India is a very attractive market. But reality is much more complicated and Wine estates should be aware it is a matter of time and persistence. To start networking and finding good partners in India, wine estates may consider making contacts through wine trade fairs. First problem: fairs are numerous and choices are not so easy to make.Early December, the 1st International Food & Drink Expo India occured in New Dehli. Mid January, the 8th edition of the India International Food & Wine Show (with a large presence of italian wine producers who want to make it a "Vinitaly bis".). And then, end of january, the second edition of the India International Wine Fair (IIWF) took place in Mumbai. Three wine fairs over 2 months... Second problem: Fairs are all boasting to have great contacts and attract decision makers from Hotels, Restaurants, Resorts, Government Officials, Catering & Technical Institutes, Gourmet Food Importers, Food & Beverage Distributors, Food & Beverage
Retailers, Suppliers of Hospitality, Supermarkets and Others. At this "discovery" stage, wine producers are already a bit confused about where and how to start making the first contacts. When you look at the current situation in India, Wine consumption is still very low given the huge population. With beer and other liquor on top of indian consumption,wine drinkers are negligible minority. Around 1.3 million cases of wine were sold over last year. But the Indian market is growing, expected to double in the next three-four years.The Indian middle class seems hungry for exciting food and drink experiences. So India is definitely a market that wine estates should look at. At such a still early stage, wine producers should consider the right strategy if they want to be successful.

1) India is a continent and focusing efforts on just one city such as New Dehli or Bombay is clearly not enough. Wine producers must travel in different cities in order to meet the right people who will develop sales efficiently. Partnering with multi-estate distributors with a strong local commercial presence is essential. To highlight this point, I would consider Aspri Spirits: leading importers and distributors of premium wines and spirits in India, they developed one of the largest sales and distribution networks. Not only are they active in New Dehli and Bombay but they also cover over 22 major states.

2) Wine shops should not be the major target. Wine producers should focus on the star category hotels, restaurants, bars, up market wine shops and airlines. In fact, there is a strong concentration among the major buyers. A short list of the companies they work for would include The Claridges, Trident, Oberoi, Ashok, Radisson, The Imperial, Aman Resorts, Air India, Reliance, Dominos, Café Coffee Day, Ikea, M&S, Carrefour. Then come some other hotels, restaurants, retailers and institutional caterers. Wine estates should focus on the quality, influential trade professionals from India’s food services and food retailing sectors.

3) Even if Wine consumption may seem low at present given the huge population, competition already exists on the indian market. Wines from France, USA, Chile, Argentina, Australia, Italy, Slovenia, Bulgaria, South Africa and others are already proposed. But, for wine estates, the real threat comes from the national production, the indian wine producers (for example, estates and associations for wines produced in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka). This competition is made even more difficult when estates discover the retail price of their wines in India. Taxation is a major issue. India imposes customs duties of up to 150 per cent on bottled wines and spirits.

As a conclusion, India is a very attractive market and some great opportunities should now be considered by wine producers. Estates can not ignore a wine producing country with a huge population such as India. But they should define the right strategy to find good partners. If India shows a great potential for the future, reality is still complicated for Wine estates. In fact, it is a matter of time and persistence. (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

Davos, Wine and Globalization

2010-01-29T06:26:00.006+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). Davos Forum had just begun and a beautiful tasting of wines from Château d'Yquem and château Cheval Blanc was proposed to some delegates heading to the World Economic Forum. Located in an airport hotel in Zurich, this wine tasting started with a Krug Champagne (also part, like the 2 other wines, of the successful French Luxury group Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy). Globalisation has made this kind of events very important. To be seen where the world meets became extremely important for luxury wines.
Placing fine wines during an evening like this particular one is key to create intimacy between brands and people. In fact, for those invited people, talking about politics, finance or strategic management is their day-to-day business. Doing the same while having a glass of expensive wine and making great connections is a "social thing".Being served old vintages becomes a privilege. Expect those participants during the next days to talk about their experience of having a 1959 Château d'Yquem to delegates from India, China or Brazil. There is nothing better than a great ambassador of your brand talking to the world about how great is your wine, isn't it?
These invited people may not be the super-rich but they have top level responsibilities, travel a lot, talk to top level management and politics and spend some times in restaurants. They are influent and therefore luxury wine estates should make sure they know about their brands. But serving wine was not sufficient during that night,
people were expecting more. For this specific community gathering at Davos, all is about knowledge. In fact, Davos Forum is about sharing knowledge. So these people who are leaders
themselves, or who are used to listen to and talk to leaders, expected a famous wine expert to make the show. On that night, Jancis Robinson provided key information and gave explanations.
So next time you have dinner with someone returning from Davos, don't forget to read first about Krug, Cheval Blanc or Yquem. Otherwise you may feel at least a little embarassed or, even worse, end up excluded from his/her Facebook community ("No, you are not my friend")... Marketing is everything. Dom Perignon applied the same strategy for a long time and showed how successful it might be. Now millions of Dom Perignon bottles are sold all over the world. Dom Perignon...a Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy's brand. (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).

TESCO brings innovation on Wine shelves

2010-01-28T05:56:00.002+01:00

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). Things change rapidly at TESCO which announced the best christmas sales in 3 years.After having outperformed market expectations with a 4.9 per cent increase in UK like-for-like sales during the six weeks to January 9, Tesco demonstrates its ambitious strategy. Its ‘Finest’ range proved a big hit with shoppers and sales of champagne were up 35% on last year. Although its rivals Waitrose and Sainsbury also released strong sales for the Christmas season, Tesco is certainly back on track.
The world's fourth-biggest retailer keeps on innovating in its wine department and made two announcements in January in order to differentiate itself from a tough competition: a new iPhone application and a light glass wine-bottle.
If you have an iPhone, Tesco brings you more information about your favourite wine in a click. In fact, the UK grocer proposes a free iPhone application that enables shoppers to take a picture of a bottle and get tasting notes and other information about the wine. Limited to 1,000 bottles of the "Tesco Wine By the Case" selection, this new application delivers a great value to customers. Why? Because shoppers now want to know more about wine and specifically about the wine they may select.Moreover they are confused when looking at an impressive range of wine with all sorts of labels. Finally they are disappointed by the often poor information written on back-labels. A really great customer-value driven move.
The UK's biggest grocer also recently launched the lightest glass wine bottle available in the UK on its own-label ranges. A 300g bottle that will reduce the supermarket's glass usage but also significantly reduce carbon emissions on wines brought into stores.It may sound a bit weird to "old world" winemakers but things change and environmental-friendly behaviours will certainly bring an increasing number of customers to consider this offer.Moreover, not only Tesco gives consumers a new choice with this bottle but also sends a clear signal to winemakers that a carbon emission reducing approach is not limited to the production of an "enviromental-friendly wine" but is also related to the way it is packaged and delivered.
Tesco brings innovation on the wine shelves. Overall the company leads the change in UK and some big international players have an eye on it.Carrefour has just announced it has recruited former Tesco executive James McCann to head its French operations...(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).