wine marketing

Le marché indien...vers une évolution rapide ?.

Un excellent article sur l'évolution du marché des vins en Inde ainsi qu'une analyse sociologique. A lire absolument.

La napa valley produit et exporte du vin en partenariat avec les chinois.

A group of Napa Valley winegrape producers are taking their expertise to China.

Local winemaking and grape growing experts are joining forces with government officials from Hami City, Xinjiang Province, People's Republic of China -- in a deal they finalized Wednesday afternoon to introduce Napa Valley style of winegrape growing and making techniques to the country.

Three officials from Hami City, a Napa city and county official along with Golden Allied Enterprises and consultants were on hand at the Napa Valley Country Club's boardroom to consummate the deal.

Napa Mayor Jill Techel, Napa County Board of Supervisor Bill Dodd, joined members of the Golden Allied Enterprises' John Bakalian of Santa Cruz, Fred Davis of Napa, along with consultants Jeff Booth and Bob Pepi of Oakville for the ceremonial signing of papers with Chinese officials.

The agreement between Hami City and Golden Allied Enterprises (Group) Inc., calls for a 750-acre vineyard and a 10,000 ton per year winery in northwest China.

The venture is unique because this project involves a partnership that begins from the ground up -- not with Napa Valley investors partnering with an existing Chinese wine operation.

Golden Allied's Davis, who was on hand for the ceremonial event, estimated that it took about five months to get to Wednesday's official signing.

Land for the Chinese venture to introduce Napa Valley's growing techniques and grape varietals will be done on land donated by the Chinese government.

Booth and Pepi, who have a wine consulting business, have been involved in pinpointing the ideal place to grow and make Napa style wines in Hami City.

Booth said that since the announcement several years ago of the French Paradox health advantages, the Chinese government has been very positive about wine's benefits.

Wei Tian Zeh, deputy chancellor of Hami City, was on hand to sit down and sign on the dotted line along side Bakalian.

As they signed the documents, parties from both continents focused their camcorders and digital cameras to preserve the event.

Booth said an agreement between the two countries is a no brainer. China has a burgeoning population of about 1.3 billion people who have a thirst of Western products -- including Napa Valley wines.

"That is a big consumer base. And their government is backing this," Booth added.

Most of grapes grown in the Hami City region are table grapes, but there are a few winegrape vineyards, according to Booth.

"From what I saw when I was there, is that I came away with a positive impression," Booth said.

"What all this is going to lead to I don't know," he added.

Wine consumption in China is on the upswing, but their knowledge of winemaking and growing needs fine-tuning -- which Napa Valley experts are anxious to provide.

"We are looking forward to working with you in Hami City," said Wei, through a an interpreter, who captured the event on a camcorder.

"Hami City and Napa share a lot in common, Wei said. Climate -- warm days and cool nights -- being a major similarities between the two regions.

Wei, speaking at the small gathering, said he was impressed with "the beauty of Napa Valley."

Bakalian said he is confident that high quality Napa style wines can be produced in this northwest region of China.

Wei said he looks forward to his Hami City's collaboration with Golden Allied Enterprises as they explore Napa Valley techniques for growing and making wine in China.

"We are looking forward to seeing you in Hami City. I extend an invitation to all of you," Wei said.

Mayor Techel responded: "Thank you for inviting us. ... Welcome and thank you for the opportunity to with visit you."

County supervisor Bill Dodd said that he was happy to see such a partnership between Hami City and the Napa Valley.

After all the handshaking and photo taken, the afternoon concluded with everyone enjoying Napa Valley wine.

Le Chili développe son commerce extérieur à coup de partenariat...

The presidents of Chile and China today formally signed a free trade agreement worth over US$3bn.

Although the agreement is still subject to ratification, it is set to take affect by mid 2006.

It is Chile's ninth such treaty in as many years and it cements an increasingly close commercial relationship between the two countries.

Chile's economy has benefited from China's booming demand for copper and other raw materials to fuel its rapid expansion. And the traffic is not only one way: Chinese investment looks set to increase in many key sectors of Chile's economy – including wine.

Industry sources point to at least two wineries that are currently in discussions with Chinese investors. decanter.com understands the Chinese have shown specific interest in Chile's far northern wine regions as well as Colchagua.

According to Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, around 92% of Chilean products will benefit from Chinese import tariff exemption under the agreement.

There had initially been concerns that wine would be omitted but last minute negotiations in Beijing secured a deal in which import tariffs on wine will be steadily reduced to zero over a ten-year period.

In recent years, Chile has been the largest supplier of bulk wine to China. It exported over 30m litres, valued at nearly US$20m, in 2004.

According to Chilean foreign minister Ignacio Walker, Chile's trade with China is worth around US$3.4 bn annually.

Chile is now opening talks with Japan on a similar agreement.

Without a little marketing, they're just fermented grapes (un point sur le beaujolais nouveau par nos amis américains).

The slogan "It's beaujolais nouveau time" replaced the time-honored cry of "Le beaujolais nouveau est arrivé!" ("Beaujolais nouveau has arrived!") when revelers rang in the French wine at midnight Thursday with a bacchanalian feast stretching from Sydney, Australia, to San Francisco.

The new slogan is part of a $1.17 million campaign by winegrowers to attract a hip, young clientele for their product amid slumping wine sales in France.

"Instead of drinking Coke, we are telling young people it's better to drink a glass of beaujolais," said Michel Rougier, head of the group promoting the region's wines.

The campaign includes radio spots in France - in French - and an online campaign, with Internet movie clips and a slick new Web site in French and English aimed at the under-35 crowd.

Producers hope the annual beaujolais coming-out party, traditionally on the third Thursday of November, also will help propel sales in emerging markets such as China. But the revamp met some resistance, at least in Paris, where many cafes and wine bars persisted in using posters bearing the old slogan.

Though experts have declared this year's vintage one of the best in decades, wine buffs traditionally sniff that beaujolais nouveau is too light and fruity to register as a "grand vin." Still, fans love it simply as a party wine that provides a good excuse for midnight merrymaking - or even breakfast tasting.

Wine lovers in the Chatham Islands in New Zealand, close to the international date line, were expected to ring in the new harvest. In the southern city of Lyon, near the heartland of Beaujolais, public concerts and fireworks were to precede the tapping of the barrels at midnight.

This year's vintage has notes of wild blackberry, cranberry and black currant, with hints of cherry and raspberry and spicier flavors not unlike licorice, producers say. It is already being compared to the 1976 vintage, which followed a particularly hot summer.

Un nouveau "french paradox" ?

De récentes recherches ont montré que le réservatol, une substance présente dans le raisin et le vin rouge, diminuerait le taux d’amyloid-beta peptides, substance qui intervient dans le développement de la maladie d’Alzheimer. Les chercheurs de Litwin-Zucker, centre de recherche pour la maladie d’Alzheimer et les troubles de la mémoire, ont administré du réservatol à des cellules humaines qui produisent de l’amyloid-beta et démontré que dans les cellules ainsi traitées, le taux d’amyloid-beta était inférieur à celui des cellules non traitées.
Cependant, les auteurs de cette étude ont insisté sur le fait que manger du raisin ou boire du vin rouge ne pouvait, en l’état actuel des recherches, avoir un effet thérapeutique sur la maladie car le réservatol naturel est instable. A ce jour, seul le potentiel thérapeutique du réservatol naturel a été démontré.

Mieux connaitre les vins Autrichiens

Vienna's vineyards, started by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago, are losing customers to cheaper wine imports and may go out of business, threatening the Austrian capital's taverns.

``This tradition is dying,'' said Alois Wanderer, an 84-year- old wine farmer sitting in his empty tavern, known as a heuriger, in the Grinzing district on Nov. 13. ``Twenty years ago you wouldn't have found a seat,'' he said, pointing at a room of wooden tables in his bar, called the Wanderer.

The Viennese are staying at home more and drinking cheaper vintages from countries such as Chile, damaging the wine-farming tradition that began with the Habsburgs in the 18th century. Younger farmers are redesigning taverns and making a greater variety of wines to rescue the city's 700 hectares (1,729 acres) of vineyards and boost Vienna's 87 million-euro ($102.3 million) agricultural economy.

The number of drinking taverns has fallen by about 50 percent to 240 in the past two decades, said heuriger owner Rainer Christ in a Nov. 12 interview. Christ said he expects the number to shrink.

``Closing Hour,'' read a Nov. 7 headline in Vienna weekly magazine Profile, which reported the bankruptcy of Schreiberhaus, a tavern that attracted celebrities such as former Finance Minister Hannes Androsch and actor Karlheinz Hackl, known for his role as a Nazi doctor in the film ``Sophie's Choice.''

Sales of imported wine have climbed 2.6 percent since 2000 while consumption of Austrian domestic bottles is down 1 percent, according to an Oct. 2005 report by the Austrian Wine Marketing Service. More Austrians, each consuming an average 30 liters of wine a year, are choosing to stay home to drink rather than go to taverns because of the expense, the report said.

Josef II

The heuriger tradition started in 1784 when Habsburg Emperor Josef II issued a decree letting farmers sell their wine to boost the economy. About 75 percent of the city's wine farmers own a heuriger, where they serve their wine, said Peter Schilling, a farmer and spokesman for the farmers' union. More than half of the 2.4 million liters of wine produced in Vienna is consumed in taverns by Austrians and tourists.

``Instead of building a Disney World, we have this,'' said Schilling, 55, as he pointed to rows of sauvignon blanc and zweigelt grapes in his vineyard. ``It's an important ecological and economic factor in Vienna. It's part of our identity.''

Most of the grapes in Vienna are used for less expensive table wine than for premium quality wine, according to the Austrian Wine Marketing report. Farmers are now trying to cultivate new varietals.

``The Secret of Vienna's Wine Wonders,'' read a Nov. 2 story in Vienna daily Die Presse about 29-year-old Michael Edlmoser's new ``Reserve Riesling.''

Mephisto Blend

The 30-year-old Christ, whose family has cultivated vineyards on the Bisamberg hill overlooking Vienna since 1927, has developed a signature wine, Mephisto, a blend he made while studying viniculture in the 1990s. It's a mixture of Zweigelt, Cabernet- Sauvignon and Merlot grapes that tastes like cherries and smoky chocolate. It sells for 20 euros a bottle.

``Vienna has the potential to develop world-class wines,'' said the 30-year-old Christ, speaking from his family's heuriger on a Saturday night in November. He produces around 50,000 liters of wine a year. ``It's improved a lot in the last few years.''

Christ hired an architect to redesign the family tavern last year. In addition to long tables with wooden benches, his heuriger has a back room with teak tables and leather booths. Windows look out onto a courtyard where vines crawl over trellises.

``The heuriger is an essential element of Viennese tradition and has something for everyone,'' Christ said. Christ, grandson of the vineyard's founder, says unless his colleagues change their approach there may be a third fewer farmers harvesting grapes in Vienna within a decade.

Harvest by Hand

Wanderer estimates costs have risen thirty times since he bought a two-hectare plot and heuriger in 1968. The price of wine has climbed five times in the same period. He charges five euros for a bottle of red zweigelt wine that he says has a dry, lingering taste of red currants. Wanderer harvests grapes by hand, while his wife cooks and cleans in the heuriger.

``It's not an easy job,'' said Schilling, who bottles 20,000 liters of wine a year from his five-hectare plot. ``It's eight hours a day in the wine garden followed by long nights and weekends working the bar.''

Schilling says the long hours and modest living are among reasons why younger Austrians aren't taking over the vineyards. Cultivating and harvesting grapes, and running a heuriger, have traditionally been a family business. He said his daughter studies in England and isn't interested in taking over the farm.

`Doesn't Pay'

``It's only possible as a family business,'' said Wanderer, whose family came to Vienna from Italy and has made wine for over 300 years. ``When the whole family works, it's possible to make a business. Otherwise, the costs are too much.''

Inexpensive wines from Argentina, Chile and South Africa are available in supermarkets and putting pressure on Vienna's wine growers, Wanderer said. A bottle of Argentine malbec retails at 3.99 euros in Vienna. The cost of an imported bottle of wine fell 8.9 percent last year compared with a 3.8 percent decline for domestic wine, the wine marketing group reported.

``The job is so big it doesn't pay,'' said Wanderer, who produces about 6,000 liters of wine a year. ``It's something you have to be born into.''

To contact the reporter on this story:
Jonathan Tirone in Vienna at [email protected].

Baisse de 1 Million d'HL des exportations

Les exportations de vins enregistrées par les Douanes au cours de la campagne 2004-2005 (août 2004 à juillet 2005) s’élèvent à 13,7 millions d’hl, réparties en 47,5% de vins d’appellation d’origine (6,5 Mhl) et 51,5% de vins de pays et vins de table (7,1 Mhl). Ces expéditions sont pour 71% à destination des pays de l’Union européenne (9,8 Mhl) et 29% des pays tiers (3,9 Mhl)

Chine et Chili finally agreement

La Chine et le Chili ont signés des accords de partenariat qui risque d'amoindrir la position concurrentielle des vins français. Dépêchons nous si nous ne voulons pas être (une nouvelle fois ?) les dindons de la farce....

China and Chile removed the discrepancies through friendly talks during the fifth round negotiation held Oct. 24-28, and finally reached agreement on FTA( free trade area) trade in cargo.

The two sides are expected to sign the agreement on trade in cargo within this year and implement it as soon as possible, said Chinese Ministry of Commerce in its press release.

Chile is then likely to become China's second trade partner to build FTA, only after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The FTA between China and Chile, if initiated, would mean immediate, tariff-free access to China for 92 per cent of Chilean exports; 7 per cent of Chilean exports will see import tariffs drop gradually over five-year and ten-year periods; only 1 per cent of Chilean exports are excluded from the deal to protect local industry. Meanwhile, once the agreement is in place , 50 per cent of Chinese exports would enjoy tariff-free access to Chile; 47 per cent of Chinese exports will see import tariffs drop gradually over five-year and 10-year periods, 3 per cent of Chinese exports are excluded from the deal to protect local industry. China admits that the pisco is the typical product of Chile. Furthermore, tariffs on wine will be cut over 10 years, it means that it is scheduled to decrease annually once the agreement takes effect and the tariffs on Chilean bottled wine will be only 7 per cent in five years. The representatives of the Chilean wine industry said Chile hope to become China’s biggest wine supplier.

Hausse des exportations de vins chiliens

Les exportations de vin du Chili ont augmenté de 9,7% au cours des 9 premiers mois de l'année, atteingant pour cette période 594 millions de dollars. La croissance est due à un meilleur volume d'exportations, qui ont augmenté de 5,3% tandis que les prix ont progressé de 4,1%, selon l'organisation en charge de la promotion des exportations de vins du Chili. L'augmentation de cette année est toutefois inférieure à la croissance enregistrée l'année passée.

Vingt marques de vins dominent le marché des exportations de vins. La principale est la vigne Concha y Toro, qui a exporté au cours des 9 premiers de l'année 2005 pour 149,2 millions de dollars. Les Etats-Unis sont la principale destination pour ces exportations.

Les "winemakers" chinois progressent....avec la technologie européenne.

Un article interessant d'une journaliste américaine de Reuters sur la progression du savoir faire "production" des winemakers chinois.

By Emma Graham-Harrison,
MANAS, China (Reuters) - A slice of onion or lemon, some ice-cubes or a mixer of lemonade are some of the tricks Chinese wine drinkers use to help a glass of red slip down.

The traditionally spirit- and beer-drinking nation only began turning grapes into alcohol on a large scale in the last few decades and is still getting used to drinking the results.

But as the industry matures, and the thirst of China's newly affluent middle classes for wine grows, ambitious Chinese vineyards are trying to educate their countrymen's palates so as to win their cash.

Among the contenders to banish the garnishes that make sommeliers' hair stand on end is Suntime Winery in remote western Xinjiang province. It used 2 billion yuan ($248 million) of investment to import European technology and employs a French winemaker.

"China is a new country to wine-making, particularly out west. Quality is a problem because the industry is young and the vines are young, but there is some good wine," said Suntime deputy manager Robert Wu as he leaned over to smell the Cabernet Sauvignon fermenting in an oak barrel.

Currently massive established firms that invest heavily in publicity, or even promotions including free lemonade, dominate the Chinese market. Though unknown abroad, brands like Great Wall, Dynasty and Changyu are household names in China.

Many domestically made bottles, protected from foreign competition by sky-high import taxes, can be tart and unbalanced enough to make lemonade a welcome sweetener.

But Suntime is convinced that with vineyards on a similar latitude to Bordeaux, top equipment and drinkers' growing sophistication, it can turn a profit by focusing on quality.

The number of bottles downed is expected to rise by around a third this year, Wu says, helped by luxury associations and a relatively healthy image.