BKWine Brief nr 105, May 2012
Selling wine is not easy. Some (regions/producers) think it will be easier if they get their own appellation, as we mentioned in the last Brief: two new appellations in the Loire Valley that no one knows and that hardly will be significantly different from the existing appellations in the region.
Others believe in different kinds of word magic. The absolutely irresistibly named appellation Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire has disappeared and been replaced by Coteaux Bourguignons, intended to be an “introduction appellation” for new consumers to discover Burgundy wines. That it is virtually impossible to spell correctly for anyone who is not French and that it will include wines that are completely atypical for “traditional” Burgundy apparently does not matter.
But on the other hand, who does not hesitate when spelling Franschhoek or Boekenhoutskloof? And they sell well on the international market.
The ones who currently are most successful in selling their wines are perhaps those who have taken branding the farthest and turned it into a pure game of branding and brand management, pretty much like luxury goods, like perfumes for example that sell purely on brand recognition and image marketing.
Take for example Champagne. It is probably less than one percent of the champagne consumers who really care about the intensely white chalk soil, about the Montagne de Reims, the Vallée de la Marne, Côte des Blancs or Côte de Sézanne. Yet it is probably the wine region that has had the most steady market progress of all, across the world, over the last few decades. Is that because the wines they make are so much better than other or is it because the success they have had with branding and marketing?
Or take Bordeaux. Not all Bordeaux, but the top chateaux of the Grand Cru Classés. The small and less famous Bordeaux producers are generally struggling but the most exclusive properties seem sometimes to be able to ask any price they want for their wines. It is even so that a fundamental part of the classification here is that it has nothing to do with the terroir, the vineyard or the wine. It is the chateau, the name of the chateau that is classified, not the wine or the vineyard. Perhaps rightly so? The people who buy Lafite, Latour, Haut-Brion, Lynch-Bages etc do it probably not because it is made from 76% of cabernet or has grown on a well-drain clay and limestone soil but because the bottle carries the name they want on the front of the label. Quite simple the right brand?
But not everyone is as successful as that in building brands so they have to try different methods.
We can see that quite clearly and quite often. The wine producer that have a talent or just a little enthusiasm for marketing and selling their wines are more successful. Those who think “I make my wine and then someone surely will come and buy it” have a harder time (in particular if the follow-up is “and if no one buys there should surely be some minimum price guarantee for what I produce in the agricultural policy”). We visit some 300 wineries every year on the 30-something wine tours that we organise so we have seen all types.
Another good “trick” to be successful (although not a guarantee) is to make wines that taste better than what one would expect at the price asked. That’s something we like! And that we will tell you about in BKWine Magazine as soon as we can.
One more thing that the winemaker can do is participate in wine fairs and wine events that take place around the world and meet the wine consumer. We often write about such events in the Brief. If you are a consumer then we encourage you to go to such events and give the producers your support! You might even make some interesting new discoveries!
New and exciting discoveries is also what we home that you do when you come on our wine tours! Wine tours too need marketing, just like the wines! So here is a short promotion of the tours. We hope that it will grab your attention and that it will tempt you to come on one of our tours!
Very urgent (!!!) to register for:
- Bordeaux
Urgent to sign up for:
- Tuscany
Not so urgent, but still, do it now!:
- Champagne
And then we have the big travel news: we are launching a new wine tour destination: Chile and Argentina, scheduled for February next year. It will be a very special wine tour. More info below.
We can also tell you, although it is not yet official, that we will soon launch a South Africa wine tour, scheduled for March, soon. Check back soon if you are interested!
Britt & Per
PS: Recommend to your friends to read the Brief or forward it to them!
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