With weather improving everyday, pink wine is more and more visible on restaurant tables and in people’s homes. Is it the new wine color? For many years, in Europe, pink wines were considered as “non wines”, i.e. wines for people who didn’t know anything about wine. Then,  it was considered as the “wine for women”, i.e. wine being a man’s business, women could not understand what was good for them.  And then, surprise, in 2008, a study run by the International Associated Women in Wine Organization showed that women liked their wine red and tannic. The American market did not show much interest in the color, except for white zinfandel while young female Japanese professionals fell for pink Champagne, such as the gorgeous Brut Nature Zero Dosage Rosé by Drappier.

What is the situation now? The ambiguity of the color itself contributes to a lot of misapprehensions and misunderstandings. In the French tradition, for example, pink wine is traditionally a blend of several grapes, such as grenache, cinsault or mourvedre. In the US, the few pink wines I drank lately were very often blended from one single grape, mostly syrah or grenache. It happened that this year I received several French pink wines (we call them “rosés”) made from one single grape – one from syrah and the other one from grenache. I enjoyed the Syrah Rosé by Camas, also available in Bag-in-the-Box container. Ogier, the famous Rhone Valley wine producer, also made a traditional rosé blend, with 60% Grenache, 15% Cinsault, 15% syrah, 10% mourvedre sold in supermarkets, like the Camas brand.

The fact that blended rosés, very gastronomic and fine, are able to find room on the shelves of supermarkets along with a BIB Syrah rosé, means that the consumers’ tastes are evolving. More open to novelty,  French consumers are now ready and willing to explore a different road besides the famous “rosé de provence.”

A recent survey conducted by Vinexpo on women and wine in United Kingdom, France, Germany, Hong Kong and the US showed that cultural differences are an important factor of differentiation in appreciating wine.

What did those women agree upon? They usually prefer red wine over white wine. They are driving the sales for rosé wines:  16% said they’d rather drink rosé (over only 6% in 2009). This is an increase of 160% in 2 years! 70% drink wine while socializing with friends or on a date: 68% consider wine important and even essential on a romantic dinner. French women are leading the trend with 50% of the answers while 10% of British women and 5% of Hong Kong female drinkers would not go on a date without some wine.

This first breach in the consensus opens the door to the deeper cultural differences. Women do not agree on the factors leading to their choice. 70% of French women consider that the country of origin is their first criteria while it is important for only 50,8% of British women. In the USA, grape variety is the most important criteria – not surprisingly. Price (58,5%) and country of origin (67,8%) are most important in Hong Kong.

The deepest difference appears with the question : is wine part of tradition or a part of your lifestyle? American women answer loudly and strongly that wine is part of a lifestyle while for French women it is part of the tradition.

This survey is an interesting marketing tool because it was conducted on line in 5 countries in partnership with several sites of various magazines: Elle in France and Hong Kong, Konsum Göttinnen in Germany, Wine Enthusiast in the US and Decanter in England. Interestingly enough, the sites partnering with Vinexpo are not wine-related in France, Hong Kong and Germany. They are more lifestyle- or -women-related magazines. In UK and in the US, it is the opposite: the surveyed women were readers of wine magazines, but they claimed wine as a lifestyle choice.

Even more fascinating is the use of Internet as a tool. The survey revealed that the women wine drinkers in the age 18-30 are using most the Internet (14%) while in France only 3% go on line to look for wine. Let’s just hope that Internet will be more and more used to discover wine(s) from all over the world, and not only by women.

Last year, I wrote in my French blog about winefair.com, this French initiative: a virtual and 3-D wine fair. I was impressed by the technology and the design of the site. This year, the second edition of winefair.com opens up to international markets.

During the last few weeks, I was in contact with many American winemakers and opinion leaders. The concept is not easy to grasp because it is rather innovative and creative: the site is mostly a business platform allowing winemakers and professionals to get acquainted, meet, talk and keep in touch after the show. In order to enjoy all the functionalities of the site, you must register as a visitor: you’ll then access the list of exhibitors, be able to see when they will be available on their booth (a green dot next to their name) and even make appointments with them on the agenda.

Wine enthusiasts are also encouraged to register as they’ll access a description of the winery, presentation of the wines available and also be able to chat with the producers.

Who are the producers ? A lot of them are French, some are American (Randal Grahm from Bonny Doon, Craig Camp from Cornerstone Cellars, Jeff “El Jefe” Stai from Twisted Oak Winery), Australian (Mark Gifford from Blue Poles in the Margaret River area), Portuguese or Spanish.  Consumers and professionals can take advantage of the agenda of each producer to come and meet them. It is a rare oppportunity as most of those international producers do not sell their wines in Europe.

As all fairs, conferences in French and in English will take place during the 5 days of the show: they are live video conferences. I listened to a couple of French conferences live today and was impressed by the level and interest of the content.

The first conference (image above) was with the CEO of the Spanish Qude Bodega about organic wines and wine tourism. This afternoon, the discussion was on the site wine-sign.com, linking communications and wine. It is a lot of fun to chat on line with the speakers using their tchat tool or Twitter.

There were some technical glitches yesterday during the opening. The site was even cut off for a few hours – thanks to a lot more connections than expected on Monday at 9:00 am!  But things seem to be fixed by now and hopefully the site will run smoothly from now on.  The wine fair might open an extra day next week to answer all the requests of people and give more time to the exhibitors to meet with the crowd.

Take the time to stop by the fair and enjoy the English-speaking program we designed specifically for you!

[Note: I work with winefair.com because I believe in the project, my first criteria to accept a new mission.]

After the unfortunate recent failure of Chamarré it seems very brave to launch a new French brand on the US market.  The press release bears the rather off putting title : “300 Year Old French Winery Brings Prestigious Wine Appellations Into The 21st Century”.

The 300 Year Old French Winery is Arnoux et Fils, family-owned and operated in Vacqueyras, in the Rhone Valley. The prestigious wine appellations are Vacqueyras, Gigondas and Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The brands are called “Gig” for Gigondas, “Vac” for Vacqueyras and the “Chat9″ for Chateauneuf du Pape (9 is said “neuf” in French). The range also includes some “rosés” from Côtes de Rhône. All those brands are under the umbrella of “THE-Vins” (the wines).

The launch of this new brand is based on a study conducted by Sopexa, stating that “72% of respondents held a very positive image of French wines, and 81% agreed that French wines are typically reserved for special occasions. French wines have the image of being consumed less frequently, being more complex to understand and to taste, and commanding a higher price.” THE-Vins are the answer to the shyness of young American consumers towards French wines. The packaging is supposed to break “the mold of conventional French labels, while respecting and promoting the longevity of prestigious French appellations that are currently unfamiliar to a broader range of tomorrow’s consumers”, according to the press release.

The new brand is promoted through a traditional web site 100% Flash and 100% annoying when trying to get information. My questions to young American consumers are : do you know Vacqueyras? Do you know Gigondas? Do you know Chateauneuf-du-Pape? Next questions : when seeing those bottles displayed on a supermarket shelf, will you be enticed to buy them because they’re eye-catching?Are you sure you’ll enjoy them because of their labels?

My questions to THE Vins are: What is the price point? Where are your wines going to be available? Why release several brands like Vac, Gig, under THE Vins? Why not launch THE Vins brand by itself? Why dilute the brand by too many sub-brands? Why no social media presence if targeting the young American consumer?

So many questions, so few answers. The American young consumer is the favorite target of a lot of wine brands.  Just have a look at the perfect strategy of HobNob wines launched by veteran Bill Deutsch. The consumer is involved in the strategy. He is the center of the strategy. When will Europeans understand that they have to engage with the consumer if they want to succeed? I wish the best of luck to THE-Vins.

Trust French people to associate love with (almost) anything fun and sensual! The luxury wine and food store Fauchon launched a fun concept, the “Wine Dating”.  Based on the idea of an “after work” meeting, the “wine daters” meet in the restaurant at the top of the Montparnasse Tower. They’re offered a tasting of 6 wines and a choice of cheese while walking around looking for their soul mate.

Great way to promote wine among young people? Yes, it is. Especially when you know that wine consumption is going down drastically in France. The French wine industry needs to come up with new and trendy ideas such as this one to attract younger people and give them the message that wine is easy and fun. Congratulations to Fauchon for such an innovative strategy!

In 1999, the Web was still considered an innovation in Europe. In France, 11,6% were connected; 100,000 adventurous people are managing their bank accounts on line; e-commerce brings 200,000 euros! It was also the time of the Internet boom: start-ups are getting millions from angels and investors. After two years of euphoria and craziness, it is the krach. But, in spite of that, one third of the French population was connected – mostly by cable. Amazon.com and ebay.com opened their French site. A healthy sign of confidence in the new economy! In 2004, 12 million French were on line, more than 50% connected by cable or high-speed. Apple launched its iTunes platform in France. In 2005, two years after the US, French people became addicted to blogs. 2 million French bloggers appeared almost over night! In 2006, advertising on line brought several million euros. In 2007, the iPhone became available in France. In 2009, over 32 million French people were connected; they were aware of Facebook and discovering Twitter.

Of course, France is not the most Internet friendly country. Regulation is the keyword for the French administration on connectivity, privacy, wine, advertising, e-commerce. In spite of all the restrictions, France is opening up to the 21st century. To look at the future, one has to look at the US. In the last ten years, I saw tremendous innovations coming from the US in the wine industry: services for wineries such as VinoVisit.com, search engine specifically tailored to wine like ablegrape.com, think tanks like VinTank.com, on line wineries such as Crushpad, new packaging. I also saw some innovations coming from Europe, like the unique code designed by adegga.com in Portugal.

New consumers generated new marketing strategies and new trends: women and Millennials, emerging countries. China and India became the new powers – first by the exponential number of wine consumers but mainly by their potential production.

Let’s not forget the incredible wine communities spread all over the Internet in already existing communities: wine groups in LinkedIn.com, pages or groups on Facebook, networks on Twitter now helped by the search. Individuals became leaders and carry the new trends to new countries and new consumers. It would be incredibly long and difficult to mention all the innovations but i’m really amazed by what happened on the Net in ten years.

I look forward to witnessing and being a modest part of the formidable innovations that will take place in the next ten years. Welcome to 2010!

Last week I was interviewed for the French TV channel France5 on how to market efficiently French wines to international markets. The first question of the journalist was: is there any difference between “Old World” and “New World” wine labels? She wanted me to show some “New World” labels. I pointed the “Red Rover” label to her as being “fun” and efficient with the dog face, the name “Red Rover” and the obvious grape mentioned on the label. She was sure no French wine could feature a dog on a label. Really?

Next day I had lunch with a friend in a Bordeaux restaurant and we both ordered a glass of Château La Folie 2005 with our lunch. We asked to see the bottle. And bingo! There was the cutest little dog on the label. Of course the style of the design was very different: I didn’t have my camera and couldn’t take a picture but it was one of those nice looking dogs – not the impressive mean-looking dog of Red Rover.

What does it mean? First of all, French labels are getting more contemporary. Wine makers are now aware that pets are part of our everyday life, like our wine and food. This kind of design is a good way to reach the consumer and appeal to his/her emotional side. Then, it also means that wine makers are ready to simplify their message on wine: wine is not always a serious and difficult subject. It’s fun and can be drunk without commenting on it for hours. Enjoy your wine in front of the fire place with your dog sitting at your feet during the cold season or outside in the garden while your dog is playing when it’s nice!

Wine tourism is a difficult topic when you’re not a specialist of… tourism but love wine. Promoting both at the same time is a difficult exercise: wine is part of a local culture. When you didn’t travel to the place where the wine comes from, you discover a region through the wine. How to connect both?

Some people found the right answer and founded 10 years ago the “Great Wine Capitals Network” or GWC. The network includes the major wine regions of some parts of the world: Bordeaux in France, Mendoza in Argentina, Bilbao and Rioja in Spain, Mainz in Germany, Napa Valley in California, Cape Town in South Africa, Porto in Portugal, Firenze in Italy and now Christchurch in New Zealand. It is the only such network to encompass the so-called ‘Old’ and ‘New’ worlds of wine, and exists to encourage travel, education and business exchange between their internationally-renowned centers. In its 10 years of existence, the network has created many interesting initiatives: the “Best of Wine Tourism awards”, an annual international grant for students, organization of many symposiums and conferences as well as facilities to promote wine tourism.

The GWC is managed by its General Secretary, Catherine Leparmentier, based in Bordeaux, France. The group is very active on the Net with a Facebook group, a Twitter account, a LinkedIn Group and now a blog. Quite recent, the blog opened about 3 weeks ago but has already many interesting posts. I especially enjoyed the ones on Tourism 2.0 and the Vivanco Dinastio Wine Museum.

The Great Wine Capitals are really in Web 2.0! Long live to their blog!

2009 is the 350th anniversary of South African wine production. South Africa is now a wine producing country largely recognized in many parts of the world – at the sad exception of a few European countries. France is one of them but fortunately, every two years, a charity auction reminds French wine lovers that South African wines are gorgeous.

The charity auction is organized every two years in Paris by the Artcurial Auction House. The beneficiary of the auction is the Phelophepa Health Train, which means “Good clean health” in Tswana. Born in 1994, the brainchild of two dynamic women who renovated and transformed an old train into a brand new medical train, with its own generators, it meanders through the rural regions of South Africa bringing medical treatment to people who do not have access to doctors due to their economic and geographical situations, far from urban medical infrastructures.
The train stops for 4 to 5 days in small towns across the country for 10 months each year before its annual 2 month refurbishment for the following year. The train has several medical units; dentistry and eye clinics, general practitioners, pediatric and psychology units and carries out screening for diabetes, for example.
The Phelophepa was given an award by the United Nations in 2008 for outstanding community service, a recognition of the importance and effective care given to patients of all ages and cultures.

As a tribute to the handful of French Huguenots who arrived in the Cape in 1688, the 2009 Phelophepa auction will carry not only some outstanding South African wines but also some exceptional wines from great French producers who have vinous links to South Africa, such as Lurton, Angélus, Rolland, Laroche, Gosset, Schaal, or Moueix.

2009 is the Third Edition of this very special Charity Auction. The two previous events enabled 63 000 people to be treated and many French wine lovers to discover the gorgeous South African wines.

Isn’t it the proof that wine is good for your health? If you are in Paris on October 27th, stop at the Artcurial Auction House and be part of a beautiful event. For more detail, contact Allison Bonnett.

For any other country having a TV channel devoted to wine is… no big deal. In France it requires to go through a major administrative work. Why is that? First of all, because wine is now considered as a very dangerous drink leading to alcoholism and major health problems. Second, because the French law require to ask “permission” to open a new channel to a very special authority overlooking the media, the CSA (Audiovisual Committe). Last but not least, the lobbies against wine are very strong.

This new TV channel, Edonys, just applied for permission to start working. Its mission statement is to produce films on the culture of wine in France but also all over the world. The channel will be broadcasted in Europe and at least in two languages, French and English. The project is very appealing to any wine lover, whether professional or consumer. That’s why the initiators of the idea are already lobbying to get the support of the wine community in France. Let’s hope the project will meet with the approval of the Audiovisual Committee.