Wave goodbye to Montana
Thursday 24 June
This week it was announced that Montana is no more.
One of the most successful Kiwi brands in the UK has decided it’s time for the brand to fall into line with the USA, where it is known as Brancott Estate.
Apparently the Yanks confused Montana with the US state of the same name; there was also a mix up with Marlborough the wine region and Marlboro cigarettes. So, the rest of us who weren’t in a muddle have to the new name too.
In a press release issued by Montana’s owners, Pernod Ricard, its New Zealand managing director, Fabian Partigliani, claimed Brancott Estate wines would ‘provide a real link back to its Marlborough home, Brancott Vineyard.’ What a load of marketing guff. Everyone in the UK knows Montana; they’ve never heard of Brancott – it’s just going to be another Kiwi brand – and it will take a long time for them to regain their brand equity. There’s also an issue of trust – if the name is different, will the stuff in the bottle be different too?
Partigliani goes on: “Due to the nature of Montana being a much-loved Kiwi icon, in New Zealand we will have dual brand strategy with Montana Classics by Brancott Estate remaining as the Montana brand.” So, Pernod do appreciate that Montana has strong brand loyalty. Dual brand strategies – do they work by easing people in to the new name, or will it just create more confusion? Surely, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?
No doubt, there will be a heap of money thrown behind the rebranding and Brancott’s sponsorship of the 2011 Rugby World Cup will hit home that Montana was just a distant memory.
Time for indies to become the ‘everyday’ option
Wednesday 31 March
Eight out of 10 bottles of wines are bought in the supermarket in the UK. What a sorry state of affairs for independents. Add the fact that promotional offer is the most influential factor in a British man or woman’s buying decision and market looks like a dismal prospect.
But don’t despair! The latest research
from YouGov poll suggests there is a place in our hearts and shopping baskets for specialists and wine merchants. The survey shows that wine drinkers actually value expertise and variety of choice above price, despite more than half (53%) admitting they didn’t buy wine from their local wine merchant.
Interestingly this contrasts with previous research by Wine Intelligence that suggests recommendation by shop staff is fairly low in importance when it comes to buying wine. Their 2008 survey showed us Brits were most influenced by grape variety and promotional deals.
However, if the latest YouGov research is to be believed then things are looking up for wine merchants with a decent range and informed staff. Most British adults buy their booze from the supermarket (74%) no doubt because it’s convenient and there are some pretty decent ranges (M&S & Waitrose, in particular). But the indies need to start playing the card that they are for everyday drinking, not simply special occasions.
The research also shows that drinkers aged 45 and over, especially women, are least likely to buy from their local wine merchant.
Is it because it’s intimidating, perhaps? These women have money in their pockets and love wine. Go out there and entice them through your doors. Give them a reason to shop at your store, and they will come.
Your £5m chance to get Naked
Thursday 18 February
Are you a winemaker who wants to go it alone but can’t convince the bank manager to give you a loan?
Here’s your chance.
The innovative people at online wine retailer Naked Wine have announced they will stump up £5 million to talented winemakers looking to set up in business. They’ve already supported Chilean couple Felipe Garcia and Constanza Schwarder (pictured) and want to help others. What a cracking idea.
Rowan Gormley, director of Naked Wines, said, “We’re looking to commission experienced, proven winemakers, who are looking to go it alone, to create stunning new wines for UK wine drinkers.
“We will cover production costs, pay a salary, guarantee an order, market the wines, pay a profit per bottle sold. In other words, provide all the tools an independent winemaker needs to create their own wine, under their own label, without the risks usually associated with being self-employed in the wine world.
Interested winemakers can find out more about the project, and apply for a piece of the action here
If you still haven’t signed up to Save the Wine column, please help the campaign. We’re only nine off 1000. Tim’s shopping list column comes out this weekend, and I’m encouraging as many people as possible to write to Stephen Pritchard, readers’ editor at The Observer reader@observer.co.uk and the editor John Mulholland john.mulholland@observer.co.uk to complain. Snail mail address is The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU. Please use ‘Save the Wine column’ as your email subject or letter heading.
Marlborough’s discount derby
Wednesday 16 December
Marlborough was riding high until the 2008 vintage. They couldn’t make Sauvignon Blanc quickly enough. Then, a record crop coupled with an economic downturn suddenly saw an oversupply situation, which it is still struggling to pull itself out of.
Along came the cut price deals to get rid of stock: £3.99 for a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc was previously unheard of; the shelves have since been full of discounted SB. Surely this has damaged the industry’s once premium image? Off the record, producers will admit that it has been a kick in the teeth and the region as a whole will suffer but they won’t be quoted on it.
Everyone you speak to here is positive that the supply-demand balance will come back within the not-too distant future since the global recession will sort the wheat from the chaff.
Ivan Sutherland, winemaker at Dog Point says, “There were many plantings in the Boondocks that should not have – with climates and soils that were unsuitable and the market will force them to drop out of the industry.”
There isn’t much more room left to plant in the current wine growing regions of the Wairau and Awatere Valleys and what is left isn’t particularly attractive. Stuart Smith, owner of Fairhill Downs and also chairman of New Zealand Winegrowers took time out from his staff Christmas barbecue to chat to me about the situation. “Marlborough is almost completely planted and we have little room. What is left is on the margins and it’s likely that the won’t be able to have consistent yields.”
It will take another year or so to get over the overhang from 2008, according to Smith and he believes the days of cheap bulk Sauvignon from Marlborough, lapped up by the supermarkets for cheap own label brands, are numbered – mainly because there’s no profit to be had.
I hope it’s true that Marlborough’s discount derby will come to an end soon. I suspect that it will be some time before that happens. Meanwhile, top quality producers like Framingham and Huia, who are doing great things, will have to fight harder to distance themselves from the Marlborough that many supermarket shoppers have come to know.
The inevitable demise of Threshers
Friday 30 October
Who’d buy a wine shop? I wouldn’t. Supermarkets now account for eight out of 10 bottles sold and independents simply can’t compete on price.
To succeed you have to have a great range and decent customer service. Unfortunately Threshers-owner First Quench were lacking in both departments. I popped into my local Thresher this week before it finally collapsed and quite frankly, I couldn’t see an interesting wine in the place. It was all branded wines and in a specialist at higher prices than the multiples, it just didn’t cut the mustard.
So, now we have the inevitable news that more redundancies are on the cards for the wine industry. 81 have gone today and more are likely to follow. The industry has already been flooded with people laid off from their wine jobs. Things have gotten so bad that a small independent retailer in Sussex told me he’d had more than 600 applications for an assistant manager job in his shop, with ex-Constellation staff filling his inbox with their CVs.
The administrators KPMG are still unsure what’s happening next. They’ve said they’d like to sell the whole portfolio off in one fell swoop including Threshers, Wine Rack, Haddows, The Local but you’d have to be a madman to buy them. They no longer have any brand equity and I can only see them being sold off bit by bit.
Independents are succeeding – take The Sampler in Islington or Taurus Wines for example – they offer customers an interesting selection and make you feel like you are valued. It’s sad news about First Quench but you can’t help feeling it was their own fault.
Hopefully Oddbins will pull themselves out of the red in the next year to keep the high street wine retailers alive. They are doing the right things and it’s their press tasting next week. I’ll let you know if their wine range is up to much after I’ve swirled and spitted.
Have a good and wine-filled weekend.
