Are computer geeks beer drinkers?

Today we received a mail order from a computer company: in the package, with printer cartridges and various graphics cards, there was a pack of coaters that looked suspiciously like the ones you get in Paris "cafés" for your beer. Does it mean this computer store consider its loyal customers as beer drinkers?



I emailed the marketing service about this puzzling question. Surprisingly enough - don't forget we're in France - I got an answer within 30 minutes. Julie from marketing wrote to me those coaters were for any kind of drinks, mostly fruit juices and sodas. This goody didn't reflect at all the drinking habits of the employees of the company or what they think about the drinking habits of their customers and was just a gesture to loyal customers.

I'm a little disappointed. I thought I had a new category of consumers: computer geeks drinking beer! Too bad!

Get "cork savvy"!

Even if you think sometimes - like I do after fighting with a recalcitrant cork - that screwcaps are easier, you'll get "corksavvy" after I tell you about their new feature.

First, a few words on corksavvy.com. It's a pleasant site - not 100% easy to navigate because of the Flash and it doesn't run on Firefox! - but it offers a nice mix of technology and information. It's full of chefs' interviews, wine information, wine and food pairings suggestions, vineyards, etc. You can get plenty of information without bothering about the technology.

Which I did until I clicked on "Free Wine Diary" and "Free Virtual Wine Rack". Ok! Don't tell me: here is an other virtual wine cellar. It's true and untrue. Registration with CorkSavvy.com is free; the virtual wine rack and wine diary are all incorporated. Helpful tutorials on the website show new users exactly how to set up and add new entries into their wine racks and wine diaries.

The site now takes the consumers a step further by including a phone application. What's the use? Marketers know consumers can never remember the name of this great bottle of wine they had at their last dinner party or at such restaurant. With this device just get the phone out of your pocket, apologize to your table neighbors and... shoot the label with your phone camera. Then email the photo to mycellar@corksavvy.com and add a description like "Crisp, Fruity, and Delicious". Once home, log into a personalized CorkSavvy My Cellar account where you can add further descriptions, arrange photos, and catalogue entries. Isn't it wonderful? I just love this device - except for the rude part of taking a picture at the table. Let me think: is it really ruder than taking my little notebook out of my purse to make a note? Maybe not and it might start an interesting conversation on wine and technology.

Conference on European women as wine consumers and buyers

On June 26th, 2008, there is an international conference taking place in Geneva on European women as wine consumers and buyers. It is organized by the International Associated Women in Wine Federation, an official organization federating organizations of female wine professionals from several European countries (Italy, Spain, Greece, Switzerland, Germany and Hungary).

A representative of each country will present the situation in her own country. I will speak about France and will let you know on Monday what happened to the conference.

Generation Y: the lost generation?

Everybody - myself included - is fascinated by the Millennials and seems to overlook the older generation, the Generation Y - those people now in their 30s. A very thorough study by Proximity Worldwide showed this generation should not be forgotten because they develop very interesting consumerial patterns. The study showed three major groups:

- The cruisers: they enjoy going out and spending money on the latest trends. Generous, they admire the humanitarian icons, such as Nelson Mandela. They don't trust the international brands (Starbucks) and have no confidence in the major conservative leaders.

- The nesters: they spend a lot of time at home with a selected number of friends and their family. They appreciate brands with aspirational qualities and admire Madonna, Audrey Hepburn, Cameron Diaz and... E.T. They usually enjoy a quiet lifestyle.

- The super-breeders: they are the most complex and most interesting group. They center their life on their family (spouse and children). They want to protect their family from any kind of pollution: junk food, uncertain social values, pornography, violence, etc. They expect brands to be "moral" and ecological. Their icons are Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt or Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp. This category is the rising category that will set the new consumerial trends: respect of nature, the planet and humankind.

After women and Millennials, a new target: the gay community?

I was reading this morning recent and older articles on the demographics of wine consumers. When writing Wine Brands I was mostly interested in two groups, women and Millennials. I might have missed a third group, the gay community, targeted by wine makers as early as 2003. Let's go back in time. This early move came from the Merryvale Vineyards in Napa Valley, California and the gay-owned Rainbow Ridge wines. Launched in early 2003, their labels feature a rainbow colored cluster of grapes and the grape variety used to make the wines is also a minority – Alicante Bouschet. What is the purpose of such a marketing move? The gay community is often targeted for its spending power as it is considered very consumer-driven and affluent. "It's not just a marketing thing, it's also a community outreach," said Jean DeLuca, marketing director of Merryvale. The winery had supported various gay events over the last year, including celebrations in its cask room.

The importance of the gay community on the US market rose several times those last few years when I was working on the marketing strategy for French pink wines. Should we specifically target this group or also include women? Can the color stand as a sale point by itself? What kind of story can we create for a pink wine label to sustain this strategy? All those questions ended up with one single answer: it's impossible to target the gay community as one group because there are several sub-groups in the community in spite of common values.

That's why I was a little surprised to read that a French winery created a brand specifically targeted at the gay community, called TendreBulle (Tender bubbles). The wine is a sparkling rosé from Languedoc. Winemaker Jacques-Edouard Pailles said he started out wanting to make a rosé wine that would be called the gay wine of Malpierre, one of the local place names, but could not, because of AOC regulations. "So then I thought it would be fun to make a happy wine, something festive, as in happy which is what gay used to mean in the middle ages," he said.

Gay and happy is quite in the French spirit. The Spanish have a very different approach of the gay community. With homosexuality just being recognized and gay marriages being authorized, a group of Ribera del Duero wineries gathered to create "Mundo Gay" to honor the gay community. "Rather than being aimed specifically at gay people, the wine serves as a homage to the gay community, an honor," spokesman Fernando Martín said. "It would be absurd if we made a wine exclusively for gay people. It is a risk calling the wine 'Mundo Gay', as we may alienate non-gay drinkers, and we don't want to lose money on the wine, but so far it has got a good reception," Martín added.

Good luck to all those adventurous winemakers!

Wine consumers and economic recession

Wine is not considered anymore as a basic food, but as a luxury or a pleasure - something you'll buy to enjoy but could be suppressed in case of financial hardship. It is reassuring to learn that British consumers "will carry drinking wine despite recession", writes decanter.com.

A new research, carried by Wine Intelligence, showed consumers will cut more on sweets, beer, soda and chocolate than on wine. Consumers also think that wine prices didn't go up dratsically in the last 6 months. rather contradictorily, they are ready to pay more (up to £6,81) instead of the current £4,64 average.

This is a reassuring study for the wine industry.

The Fast Consumer

In his fascinating book, Futurewise, Patrick Dixon explores the world around six letters - the letters of the word "F.U.T.U.R.E" : F as Fast, U as Urban, T as Tribal, U as Universal, R as Radical and E as Ethical. It is the definition of the new consumer. Let's see what the "fast consumer" is about in the wine business.

The international consumer lives in a fast world : fast-changing technologies, fast-changing products, fast-changing world, fast food, fast travels. “The developed world, is cash-rich, time-poor and intensely impatient”, Dr. Dixon sums up in a striking sentence.

The rise of the Internet is certainly one of the most significant changes in the way consumers can access new products, new information and new people. News now travels almost instantaneously, as the phenomenon of “breaking news” on the American news channel CNN shows. Consumers are used to zapping from one TV channel to another, and apply the zapping technique to brands. They are not loyal to a brand anymore and keep changing, depending on the ad, the novelty or the appeal.

Because the technology is changing, the market is changing. The consumer requests diversity and quality, as well as immediate access to the product he wants to buy, taste or try. The answer is e-commerce or the sale of the goods on line.

Yesterday, Europeans were drinking their father’s cellars and building cellars for their children. The Americans were recovering from the Repeal of Prohibition and were building their wine industry. The Japanese were recovering from World War II and getting acquainted with Europe. Today, the French, Americans and Japanese are “zapping” from one wine to another, experimenting with new tastes, new countries and new styles. Yesterday the French were drinking 80 liters a year; today they are drinking 55 liters a year. Americans were drinking beer, cocktails and whiskey; they are now drinking 8 liters of wine a year. Japanese were drinking sake and tea; now they are drinking French classified growths and other European fine wines. Yesterday, wine was served everyday at lunch and dinner in Europe. Today, the French, the Americans and the Japanese are eating sandwiches in front of their computers, reaching for the bottle of water and the cup of coffee. Dinner time is very often some frozen food reheated in the microwave by an overworked parent, or some pizza ordered by phone. Yesterday, before the family meal, Mr. Dupont went into his cellar, chose his bottle carefully and put it on the table to complement the nice dinner home-cooked by Mrs. Dupont. Today, Mrs. Dupont chooses the wine and gets in her car to buy it at the nearest supermarket. Yesterday, Mr. Smith was drinking beer and Mrs. Smith milk. Today, they are all drinking sodas, beers or wine. Yesterday, regional branding was an important element to help wine enthusiasts develop an understanding of the global wine world. Today, the New World favors varietals, while the Old World is switching strategy.

Today, all of them – Japanese, Europeans, Americans, Indians, Chinese, Russians – are connected by phone and through the Internet, and to the Internet through their phone. The M Generation of Patrick Dixon could also be called the “Mobile Generation”, because their mobile phone connects them to the world through the Internet. The M Generation can buy on line by phone after they have got the information they were looking for on the Internet. Because it is connected to the world by phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if it want to be, the M generation is also a giant online community. Ben and Linda Smith, two young Americans interested in wine, are connected to the Internet. Their counterparts in Europe are Pierre and Sylvie Dupont, in India Chandra Singh and in China Yin Li. All those people are going to surf the Net to find information on wine, exchange ideas and tips or share their tasting notes on their favourite wines or addresses of good wine and e-commerce sites.

What do those people living in different cultures and speaking different languages have in common? Mostly they share the same interest in wine, food and a quality lifestyle, speak English or have a decent knowledge of English and have access to the Internet. Sooner or later they will cross paths on a forum, on a blog or on an informational site on wine. They will be part of community-building projects, such as wine encyclopedias, wikis, blogs or forums. “The spirit of the online community," explains Patrick Dixon, "will continue to be a passionate belief that information should whenever possible be given away for the benefit of humankind as a whole. This ethic will have a profound effect on many businesses […]." Dr. Dixon can now switch to the present tense. Almost everyday a new site is born to sustain the international online community of wine consumers. Wine forums, wine blogs and even wikis are now so popular that their numbers have exploded.

New French consumers

Wine consumption was part of a very large debate in France in the last months. Some anti-alcohol lobbies were able to stigmatize wine and spirits consumers. It went so far as to drive the French wine writers association to organize a convention on the real numbers of wine consumers in France. They showed that in the official statistics the consumption of the 70 million of tourists is included and of course drives the figures very high. It would seem French people drink about 47 l per year instead of the 55l officially advertised.

Whatever the figures, I'm more interested in what and how wine consumers buy their favorite drink. The national spending average is of 516 euros a year. This figure is an average between the 1,070 euros a year spent by the 34% of afficionados who drink mostly red wine and the 64% of occasional drinkers who spend 542 euros. Not surprisingly, French people buy mostly French wines: 68% from Bordeaux, 53% from Burgundy, 46% from Champagne and Rhone Vallye, 38% from Alsace and Provence. They buy mostly red wines (83%), but also indulge in white wines (55%) and keep a little fondness for Champagne, followed by rosé and sparkling wines.

The most important part of the study shows that people buy wine to share a good time and enjoy themselves. There is only a very tiny minority buying wine for speculation. Wine is still the best way to link people together! Cheers!

Wine consumers in the US

After a warm and relaxing 3-day weekend in Paris (Labor Day weekend), I'm back to work and thinking about wine consumers. While France was resting, American wine professionals gathered in Napa Valley to attend the Direct to Consumer Symposium. As reported in winesandwines.com article, several interesting points came up as far as consumers buying direct are concerned.

Who are the wine consumers?

- Wine consumers are not all readers of Wine and Food or the Wine Enthusiast: they are also readers of Wired and Game Pro. Why? Because they are tech-savvy and buy on line as well as in tasting rooms and by wine clubs. There are more Hispanics and Asian-Americans than a few years ago and they have a higher income than the average buyer.

What channels do they use to buy direct?

- Direct-to-consumer sales increased by 30% from 2005 to 2006. In 2007, consumer direct sales grew only 7.4%.
- Wineries' tasting rooms saw a rapid 21.2% increase in sales in the second half of 2007, while a third channel, winery wine clubs, fell 10.3%, due to the economical uncertainties and the obligation of paying every 2 or 3 months $35 to 100, depending on the club.

This drop of interest for wine clubs is a very important one as, when I interviewed several wine clubs owners in the last semester of 2007 for Wine Brands, they were very optimistic and very positive on their business model. Indeed, on the consumer side, there is no shopping, no delivery problem, full refund guarantee in case of corked or damaged bottles, access to wines difficult to find or not available on the shelf, no distributor, no middleman and the best choice of wine at the lowest possible price, savings on normal retail price and very often a beautiful catalog full of fun information and tips. Extra bonus: “the research and work have been done for the consumer”, explains Gerri-Lynn Becker, Marketing Director of the California Wine Club. “The task of selecting a good wine is daunting and confusing. With the right wine club, the member can be guaranteed of quality, great taste and convenience. And may be even introduced to a wine or a winery that’s little known.”

On the winery side, being selected by a good wine club like California Wine Club is a major asset. “We only feature wines from small, real working wineries”, explains Gerri-Lynn. “Most of the wineries we feature don’t produce enough to reach mass distribution. There is a real-live family behind each wine and we introduce their story and passion to our members.”

This brings a totally different dimension to the relationship between the Club, the winery and the member, creating an emotional link between them and benefiting the club as the provider of a very enjoyable experience. “We bring the romance of wine country to the members”, confirms Gerri-Lynn. “By getting to know the who/what/where of each wine, it makes the experience more personal and wine even better.”

Wine clubs like the California Wine Club are highly popular in the USA and have a wide range of customers – from neophytes to connoisseurs. For Gerri-Lynn, “they all seem to have something in common: they like the adventure of trying something new and trust us.” Their behavorial patterns are subject to change but they are still “typical of the industry. For example 10 years ago, no one was drinking Bordeaux blends... yet now they’re quite popular! And this past year we’re seeing a big push towards Rhone-style wines. Also we’ve noticed over the years that more customers are sending gifts of wine. Even corporate gift givers are breaking away from fruit and chocolate and looking to send something more unique and exciting.”

Emerging countries in the wine world

Our next live radio show will be on the emerging markets in the wine business. From a European stand point of view, the emerging countries are: China, India and Russia. We already went over some issues related to China and India. Russia is a far more difficult market to reach and understand.

In spite of a reputation for hard drinking, Russians are way behind French, Irish and Czechs in alcohol consumption, with only 9.3 liters a year per capita. Russian traditions in wine and food explain this bad reputation, and the current situation. "Russian cuisine," explains the author of the Wikipedia article on “Russian cuisine”, derives its rich and varied character from the vast and multicultural expanse of Russia. Its foundations were laid by the peasant food of the rural population in an often harsh climate, with a combination of plentiful fish, poultry, game, mushrooms, berries, and honey. Crops of rye, wheat, barley, and millet provided the ingredients for a plethora of breads, pancakes, cereals, kvass, beer, and vodka. Flavorful soups and stews centered on seasonal or storable produce, fish, and meats. This wholly native food remained the staples for the vast majority of Russians well into the 20th century. Lying on the northern reaches of the ancient Silk Road, as well as Russia's close proximity to the Caucasus, Persia, and the Ottoman Empire has provided an inescapable Eastern character to its cooking methods (not so much in European Russia but distinguishable in the North Caucasus).”

Later on, from the 16^th to the 18^th century, Russians imported smoked meats and fish, pastry cooking, salads and green vegetables, chocolate, ice cream, wines, and liquor. This created, for the rich and mighty aristocrats, the various sources of refined and elegant dishes. This trend was confirmed and extended in the 19^th century, when the Russian court and aristocracy imported not only the ingredients but also the French and Austrian personnel able to cook the new dishes. That is why, concludes our anonymous author of the Wikipedia article, “Many of the foods that are considered in the West to be traditionally Russian actually come from the Franco-Russian cuisine of the 18th and 19th centuries, and include such widespread dishes as Veal Orloff, Beef Stroganoff, and Sharlotka (Charlotte Russe).”

It was customary for the traditional Russian to drink mostly vodka with his meals. 30 years ago, Russians were drinking 17 liters of wine per capita a year. The rest of their alcoholic consumption was dedicated to beer and vodka. By the mid 1990s, their wine consumption had plummeted to 2.5 liters, but went back up to 5.1 liters in 1998. The main core of their consumption is still vodka and beer.

This difficult history between wine, spirits and food in Russia does not influence so much the newRussia wine consumer whose profile is rather similar to the Indian or Chinese wine consumer. Drinking wine is a sign of status and social success. There are now a few hundred millionaires in Russia: their fortune is estimated at around $3.4 billion dollars. The richest of all those successful businessmen is Roman Abramovich, whose fortune is estimated at $19.2 billion. The income of the average citizen has also increased. The average income of the middle class is now $7,000 (around 4.800 euros) a year, while the national average is around $2,610 (about 1.800 euros) a year. 20 million people are now above the poverty level.

In this relatively prosperous economy, more and more people have a little disposable income. Wine is a good way to spend some money; it is new and trendy as well as a sign of success. Russians drink mostly red wine (70%); white wine accounts for about 25% and rosé wines for the rest. Russians – a little like their American counterparts – have a sweet tooth. They love off-dry and semi-sweet flavors, even in red wines.

Dry wines reflect mostly the more sophisticated drinking habits of the wealthy consumers. Young entrepreneurs and high executives of international corporations are the main clients of the fine wine business. The wealthier wine consumers thrive on First Growth Bordeaux and cult wines from the New World.

The average wine drinker will mostly buy imported wines from Moldova (before the ban), Bulgaria, Georgia and France, with Italy now getting into the picture. The price of a bottle will be in the 3 euros range, but the situation is different in the major cities, like Moscow, St. Petersburg or Kiev. In those cities drinkers have a much higher disposable income and spend more on premium wines.

More traveled, highly educated, with a high income, these new wine drinkers have the time and the will to learn more about wine. They want to have access to the status symbols of the Western world. Wine, like luxury products, is highly desirable for these new consumers.

A new device for the air-traveling consumer

Since the new air regulations prohibit carrying liquids in the cabin of a plane, wine consumers - like myself - had a choice between three strategies:

• pack the bottles among clothes in the checked suitcase and hope for the best,
• forget about bringing bottles back
• have the wines shipped to their address if possible (and if living in the country of the purchase.

A recent consumers' study showed how deeply the new regulations affected air travelers: "Conducted by BottleWise last month at the Washington DC International Food & Wine Expo, the poll asked attendees what impact, if any, TSA restrictions have had on their wine buying habits when flying home from wine country or other destinations. Nearly one-fourth, 24.4%, said they no longer buy bottles of wine when traveling by air; 41.2% wrap bottles in clothing or bubble wrap and place it in their checked luggage; and 18.1% ask the winery to ship the wine directly to them. Only 10.4% reported no impact because they never travel with wine."

I love to be on the safe side and belong to the almost 25% who decided against carrying bottles when air traveling. It is very frustrating as I enjoy bringing great European wines to my American friends and coming back with my favorite American wines to share with my European friends. It seems I now have a new possibility with a new device called BottleWise. It is a bag, able to carry two bottles, in two removable padded liquid-tight pouches and totally safe. This little bag could help the wine industry getting back some consumers.

Wine critics vs. wine consumers

There is a great post in The Pour, Eric Asimov's blog in the New York Times: "You can please all the people, or you can make great wine". It is the usual controversy on the critics' role in the wine business: should consumers follow blindly their reviews or should they appreciate a wine only on their own criteria and/or personal tastes? Critics are supposed to know their wines but they are also human beings with their own prejudices and tastes. Is there a way to help the consumers?

Some people might write a book, such as the Wine Trials by Robin Goldstein reviewed by Newsweek and commented upon by Eric Asimov in his post:

"According to the Newsweek article, the book shows that 100 wines under $15 consistently outperformed more expensive bottles. In particular, the article cited two comparisons: a $9.99 bottle of Domaine Ste. Michelle brut, a sparkling wine from Washington, outscored a bottle of Dom Pérignon, while Two-Buck Chuck cabernet sauvignon was preferred over a $55 Napa Valley cabernet, Artemis from Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars."

This proves only that people have very different tastes in wines, some with discriminating palates and others with simpler tastes.

Consumers now have a new resource, a free wiki wine rating site to find the best wines in a specific location, wineape.com, I already mentioned in this blog. The idea came up when three people, Jeff Dracup, Colleen Wagner and Kevin Jackson, who enjoy trying new wines, found out that most wines had no rating. “We felt the 100-point wine rating system, used by Wine Spectator and others, fell short in many respects. First, the ratings come from a select group of people who may or may not have the same taste in wine as the average consumer. Second, and more importantly, there are just too many wines being released each year for all wines to be rated by such a small group of wine tasters”, said Jeff Dracup in his press release (September 6, 2007, published on pr.com). With that statement, Dracup shares the opinion of Kevin Kells, development director of consumer packaged goods at Google to wine industry executives during the 16^th Annual Wine Industry Financial Symposium held in Napa Valley on September 18^, 2007, when the latter said: “We don’t believe that five guys sitting in a room should be able to know the right answers compared to the hundreds of people who are out there. We want to hear people’s comments”. He has even gone a little further: "Who is this "critic" to tell me what I should or shouldn’t like? On the other hand if a group of independent consumers say they liked a wine – it is more likely I’m also going to enjoy that wine. I feel more confident buying a wine recommended by many other wine consumers than just a few critics.”

Web 2.0 is about user-generated content, and a wiki such as wineApe.com might bring an other answer to the controversy over critics and consumers: the voice of the people. Isn't it called democracy?

"Stealing wine marketing ideas"

I "borrowed" my title to the very entertaining and slightly challenging article of Jim Gordon in winesandvines.com. Jim just came back from the wine marketing conference held in Ohio and entitled, "Permission to steal". It would seem every speaker was very generous in sharing his or her knowledge and experience.

What attracted my attention was Jim's assertion on Bill Geist's talk: "Marketing consultant Bill Geist of Madison, Wis., amusingly dissected the American population by generation, to help wineries understand how to best reach different demographics." Here is how Jim Gordon summed up Bill Geist's conference:

"Geist suggested these marketing approaches by generation:

• Matures (62 and over): Use the approach, "You've earned this." They lived through the Depression and World War II.
• Baby Boomers: "They want to feel special." Give them an upgrade; call them by name.
• Generation X: "They take nothing for granted. They've lived through tough times but now have kids and power. But their BS radar is high." Testimonials from their peers can work.
• Millennials (teens and 20s): Two-thirds aren't in the wine market yet. "They're smart, and they're going to save the world. They're also the most brand-loyal generation. Find out what they want, and make it.""

I don't quite understand why this segmentation seems so amusing to Jim Gordon. Knowing the consumers as well as their social and behavioral patterns are the basics of marketing. I devoted three chapters (out of 7) in Wine Brands on the segmentation of consumers. In the US, this knowledge is crucial for wineries and brand marketers.

More interesting than this global segmentation, are the trends selected by Bill Geist to attract his 4 types of consumers: "Geist identified several trends on which wineries can jump: immersion travel, like expensive rock and roll camps for adults; drinking locally and eating locally; 90% of women say they plan to go on girlfriend getaways; weddings average more than $30,000 now, and 20% of them are held away from the bride and groom's home location; and, 25% of the U.S. population has tattoos." (Tattoos? Is it relevant for the wine world?).

Tattooed or not, consumers are changing even faster than the wine world thinks. Wineries have to adapt to those new behaviors and get immerses in the on line communities to listen to their potential customers.

Clarendelle in China

It seems to be my "brand" week. I read carefully the thread started by Hoke Harden on Open Wine Consortium on the subject and all the comments he inspired. Too many brands? Of course, in the US only, there are over 7,000 wine brands on the market. Overwhelmed? Of course, I'm overwhelmed: I usually buy my wine after consulting my friends or my wine retailers. I never buy wine in a supermarket because I can't get any advice. Need to educate the consumer? Of course, but it's an impossible task. The debate is still open and I'll add to the confusion with a little post on one of my favorite brands, Clarendelle.

Clarendelle is the brand created by Robert of Luxembourg, the VP of Château Haut-Brion in Bordeaux and one of the owners. Clarendelle wants to be the answer of the Old World to the New World wines. A good thread for the group on the European Community in Open Wine Consortium! What does it mean? Haut-Brion is one of the oldest wine estate in Bordeaux, the smallest and the oldest of the First Classified Growths (along with Margaux, Laffite, Latour and Mouton). It has a tradition of excellence. Robert launched Clarendelle as an expression of the best of Bordeaux but easily drinkable and at a very fair price. The wine is available in red, white and pink and tastes wonderful.

Classical but contemporary, Clarendelle is considered a super premium wine. As such it is very much in demand in China where the tastes are evolving. As Cynthia Sin-Yi Cheng stated in her CondeNastPortfolio.com article, "Shanghai is leading Chinese tastes in wine":

"The wine scene here is abuzz with excitement and possibility. The number of premium-wine importers has jumped from three in 1999 to more than a hundred today. Two years ago, there was nary a shop offering tastings; now a dozen retailers hold such events. New wine bars abound. As of 2006, there was a Shanghai chapter of the highbrow Commanderie de Bordeaux, and the mostly trade-and-expat Shanghai Wine Society was founded in 2005."

Because of this continued interest in wine among the most fortunate Shanghai inhabitants and expatriates, new comers on the professional wine scene invent new events, new venues and create new excitement. The former chief sommelier of Jean Georges Shanghai, Yvonne Chiong, is working on a wine-buying program for Wang Hui Ming, a restaurant group with more than 20 establishments in Shanghai. Chiong is now pairing local cuisine with premium, imported wines—roasted pigeon, say, with a 2003 Clarendelle! Q.E.D.!

Launch of a new wine brand, RoseEros, in Paris

Last night, I went to the launch of a new wine brand, RoseEros, an upscale rosé (pink) wine created by Chateau Beaulieu in Provence. Why such a name for a dry rose wine from Provence? Because "Rose" is the anagram of "Eros" and also of "Oser" which means "Dare" in French. Beaulieu en Provence dared launch a Rosé, Eros, in an unusual style and wants to convince trade and consumers that rosé wines can be drunk all year around at home, in wine bars and night clubs and not only during the summer or over a barbecue. Rosé wine is hot, trendy and sexy.

This event started me thinking about how wines are presented to the journalists who then introduce them to the consumer or the trade. "We decided to launch RoseEros as we would launch a spirit brand or a champagne with a fun and exciting night," said James de Roany, managing director of Chateau Beaulieu, who has a good experience of this strategy since he worked for many years for the luxury group LVMH and in Champagne.

How does it translate in the event? The press launch was held in a very unusual place, the Pink Paradise night club more famous for its pole dancers than for wine tastings. Nothing offending or gross in the dancing: two pretty women, more athletic than erotic gave us all - men and women - a good dance show.
During the evening, music, screens and moving but soft lights really gave us the impression we were a little out of time or in the middle of the night, although the event started at 7:00pm and was over by 10:30. Night birds were just waking up! Talking to the journalists and professionals around the place, I heard favorable comments on the initiative: "I know this place",said a wine professional. "When I worked for Pernod Ricard, we held a lot of our events here." A female journalist told me she came to taste the wine, of course but also because she was curious about the place. Here is for the choice of the place: it was a success.

What happened to make this event and the wine memorable? The author of the Erotic Guide of the Louvre and Orsay museums, Jean-Manuel Traimond, was signing his book whose pink cover was appropriate to this pink evening, giving a highly cultural and elegant signature to the event. Jean-Manuel Traimond is an outgoing and pleasant man, who speaks many languages and knows his museums by heart. He is currently working on a guide on gastronomy and wine for the same museums.

The wine is one of those elegant and fine dry rosés from Provence, so successful during the summer but that could accompany as well your Thanksgiving dinner or your Valentine evening. I enjoyed it and could recommend it for those who like an alternative to white wines as an aperitif (a drink before a meal or after work).

I think press and trade will remember this event as special. It is still too early to have any press articles or sales' results but press and trade were happy and positive about this unusual launch for a wine. Does it mean this could be a successful strategy to market brands to press and consumer? It could be (or it should be?). Let a little fun enter our world!

The contradictions of the European market

The European press - whether on line or off line - on the wine business in Europe gives the readers very mixed signals on the state of the industry. I'd like to try - "try" being the key word - to sort out what I read lately and what it means in comparison with the "New World" wine industry.

First of all, today is the opening day of the famous "Futures" week in Bordeaux. Journalists and wine professionals gathered to taste the 2007 vintage still in barrels and that will be on the market at the end of 2009. This tasting will allow importers and buyers to set a price for those expensive and luxury bottles of wine - usually between 30 to a few hundreds euros for the most famous names (Haut-Brion, Palmer, Petrus and other Yquem). Those estates represent hardly 5% of the Bordeaux wine market: there are thousands of other properties whose wines will be sold between 2 to 10 euros for the luckiest.

Surfing on the wave of those luxury wines are a few upscale on line wine stores, such as 1855.com introduced on the Paris stock exchange and vins-fins.com (fine-wines.com). Both companies just released their new projects: expanding their business by opening their catalog to international fine wines. They might very well succeed because the wines they sell are the very symbol of a lifestyle full of elegance and classicism.

At the same time, France, Italy and Great Britain are campaigning against alcohol consumption. "Alcohol" is the key word. There is a strong confusion, in the mind of the law makers, between wine, beers and spirits, all labeled "alcohol" and demonized. In France, the "Evin" law prohibits advertising on any kind of alcohol, including wine, in the press and on TV. The law is used by a very strong and active network of anti-alcohol lobbyists, subsidized by... the French government. This lobby won two court cases lately: one against Heineken that had to close its French site (by so, making all French wine sites and blogs illegal) and an other one, against a newspaper who published an article recommending a few Champagne brands before the holidays (what about freedom of the press and freedom of speech?). At the same time, Champagne wines are so much in demand that a law included more villages in the Champagne "Controlled Appellation" area. In Italy, a law against wine (this link was provided by my friend of OpenWineConsorsortium, Ronald) might be passed by the Parliament. In Great Britain, one of the most important markets for imported wines, a campaign against drinking was recently launched to prevent "binge drinking" and female consumption. "Binge drinking" is a real and true concern for everybody since it affects mostly young people: they get badly drunk in the evening - so much as they can't stand on their feet anymore or are getting very violent. Women are a totally different case: they are the buyers of wine and food for the family and as such are very much targeted by marketers, producers and retailers. They are also - except for a few of very young women who sometimes join the "binge drinking" crowd - moderate drinkers. Unfortunately recent medical studies, in UK and in the US, linked alcohol consumption to breast cancer: more than one glass of alcohol a day could increase the risk of breast cancer. Worse, in England, Dr. Janet Treasure identified a new female drinking pattern, the drinkoresia: women are drinking without eating to compensate the calories taken with the alcoholic beverage. The damages done to the stomach are very fast and deep, which is a subject of concern for public health.

After the worries and the horror stories, the dream: Spain made wine a part of their patrimonial history and just allowed 32 millions of euros to support the export of Spanish wines. Spain wants to become the n.1 exporter in the world. By doing so, Spain joins the club of "proactive" countries, such as Australia or California - wine producing areas giving themselves the financial and human means to develop their wine industry.

What kind of logic can we find in this contradictory information coming from wine producing or loving countries? There is a confusion between wine and spirits: wine is not as strong as spirits in alcohol contents (even in warmer countries); it is part of a lifestyle and a cultural subject. Young men and women are not getting drunk on wine in bars and night clubs but on hard liquors and cocktails. Law makers should be educated about what wine is about: when we educate our young people, we should also educate our legislators and other people who think they know about wine better than the professionals. Those countries need a strong wine lobby to protect its interests.

On the other hand, those countries are also producing the most exclusive and expensive wines: the most famous brands are from France and Italy (as well as Spain). Those brands won't have any problem to keep selling but by promoting repressive policies, France and Italy are badly hurting the lesser brands and producers. Whether expensive or cheaper, good wines are the ambassadors of their country of origin. Do our governments really want to destroy part of our history and culture? I bet they don't but they don't really know what they're talking about. Without lessening the dangers of overdrinking, they should consider wine as a beautiful story shared all over the world by millions of amateurs.

Tracing your bottle of wine

When buying an older vintage of a fine wine, one always feels concerned about the storage and the handling by previous owners: how many people handled the bottle? Was it properly stored? How did it travel if the bottle came from an other country?

Those questions are now answered by a clever device, called eProvenance, based on the RFID technology.

It is even surprising that nobody thought of it sooner since RFID has been available for many years now. In its press release, eProvenance explains the technology behind the scene:

" The eProvenance system includes three physical components:

• A semi-active RFID tag placed inside the case to monitor and record temperatures and improve shipping and receiving operations throughout the distribution chain.
• A passive RFID tag with a unique code attached to the base of the bottle to automate tracking and inventory management, and discourage pilferage.
• A proprietary, tamper-proof neck seal with a covert code applied at the base of the capsule to authenticate the wine inside the bottle and thwart counterfeiters.

All three components are linked together with their unique identification numbers in a high-speed, encrypted online database. The combined data create an ePedigree for each bottle of fine wine, which consists of authentication data from the château, shipment data and temperature records."

eProvenance was created by Eric Vogt, a successful "serial entrepreneur" and passionate wine amateur, to answer the needs of the best wine producers, such as Classified First Growths of Bordeaux and other famous estates. The company is active in the US and in France. This technology is very useful to everybody in the industry: consumers, wine producers, retailers.

The Indian consumer and wine industry

Last week, I had the pleasure to meet two Indian men, both wine drinkers and lovers and discuss with them the rising Indian wine industry and the growing interest of their countrymen and women for wine.

Today, I read a new article about a Indian wine industry. India holds two main wine companies, Sula and Indage. It happens that, last week, as I was talking to my two new friends, Indage acquired the 90,000-tonne-capacity Loxton winery of Australian Vintage Ltd (formerly McGuigan Simeon Wines) in South Australia for $60 million. Indians are getting more acquainted with wine and are looking for quality wines. The acquisition of the Australian winery will bring to Indage quality fruit and the possibility of making better wines. Their wines will be very affordable (around $5 a bottle) and will contribute to the wine education of the Indian drinker.

eWineMatch.com: a new tool for wine and food pairing

An overwhelmed consumer, hesitating to choose the right wine to pair with his/her dish, has now a very efficient and free tool to get an answer. Technology (or wine 2.0) is now at our doorstep to answer our needs and help us to make the right decision. And what a pleasure for the consumer not to have to stand in a supermarket aisle looking in desperation at miles of shelves packed with unknown (or too well-known) wines just before dinner time!

An American company recently launched a real-time in-store mobile food and wine pairing, eWine Match. The mind behind eWine Match is chef and wine educator Jerry Comfort, who helped to develop a database grouping foods and wines according to intensity of flavors and reactivity. How does it work for the consumer? The shopper texts the meal’s key ingredient or type of cuisine to 411511 and within seconds receives three wine selections. The service is free, is totally portable and responds specifically to the food submitted. “And the beauty of a data-driven platform”, said chef Jerry Comfort, "is that it is constantly growing and as we get new and unusual text messages we will continue to expand the database.”

Today, eWinewatch.com's press release announced a "partnership" with Foster's Wine estates Americas, carrying Beringer Vineyards, Chateau St. Jean in the US, Penfolds, Rosemount and Wolf Blass in Australia, Castello di Gabbiano in Italy and Matua Valley in New Zealand. As a user of eWinewatch.com when in the US, I'm a little disturbed by this new partnership. Indeed, before the agreement with Foster's, I had a much wider range of brands suggested for my wine and food pairings. Today I searched for a pairing with roasted duck and, out of 11 answers, I had 4 Beringer and 2 Penfolds wines recommended. Of course I understand the development of such a platform is very costly. But independence is also a good way to attract the consumer.

Anyway I shouldn't complain about it since I'm very impressed by the technology behind this new tool and in awe of such a great service offered to the consumer. When will this service be available in Europe? Congratulations to chef Jerry Comfort and his technical partners.

Brands vs. Regions?

Last Friday, I spent the day listening to speakers from various countries about strategies to access the international markets. French specialists, such as Yves Benard, President of the INAO (Institute of the Controlled Appellations) or James de Roany, managing director of Chateau Beaulieu in Provence, the Italian Lorenzo Zonin, owner of the Zonin winery, the Spanish Juan-Maria Torres, CEO and co-owner of Torres winery, Adrian Keogh, Marketing Director for Europe of Pernod-Ricard and, last but not least the Australian Anthony Spawton shared their views on the subject.

Anthony Spawton is a wine marketing expert internationally recognized for his pioneer work in this field. He spoke about "Wine brand strategies: the new world experience" and was introduced by Peter Hayes, OIV Chairman. There is no difference between brands and regions, claims Anthony Spawton: brands and regions are the same. Why is that? A brand is "the encapsulation of the IP of a winery/region" and is also "the vehicle that will ensure its future earnings".

To show his point, Tony drew an interesting table of the "salient features of Brand Relevance":

Purchase Intent Criteria - Weekday Wines - Lifestyle - Luxury
Info search - Safe Brand /Grape - Position (niche) brand - Exclusive brand
Decision point - Price Point - Depends on occasion - Scarce, unique
Post purchase evaluation - Taste, consistency - Socially accepted - Complexity

This table shows that branding and marketing should be concerned with creatinf pleasurable consumer experiences (Schmitt, 1999). Which means you want to bring te consumer to the wine and not bring the wine to the consumer. To do so, the distribution chain is part of the supply chain: the wine is made available for sale and purchase by the consumer. The brand champions achieve a mainstream availability and accessibility.

Who are the regional heroes? It is the wines from somewhere and not from anywhere.

The best illustration of this principle during the conference was the new brand launched by James de Roany, Rosé de Provence. Rosé is the pink dry wine from Provence, the region where 80% of the wines produced are pink. As explained in Wine Brands, the idea was to brand a new category, Rosé (dry pink wine vs. sweet blush wines) and a region, Provence, its birth place and "terroir". James' idea was to capitalize on a "terroir" to raise the value of its consumers' territory - to reach the young people and the women, sophisticated consumers of a brand with an history. The region carries the history while the category expresses the trend.

Conclusion: brand vs. region? No, the region is the brand.