Key influencers from inside and outside the trade
“We need to break out the defibrillator on our digital skills,” is how Simon Huntington describes the need for the drinks industry, across all channels, to really take digital marketing seriously and understand it is now a vital part of how any company should now be operating. But what exactly is digital marketing and what do you need to concentrate on to get it right? Here Huntington sets out his vision for effective drinks digital marketing.
It’s rare for one of the UK’s biggest national newspapers to go into the intricate details of how the British drinks industry is taxed outside of a debate about a potential duty hike in the annual Budget. So when the Sunday Times unleashed a full blown analysis into what could be fundamental changes to how our still and sparkling wines could be taxed in the future – with a big push for English wines in particular – it was received with some surprise by the drinks industry at large. Here Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine & Spirits Trade Association, responds and sets out what he thinks could – and could not – be in any proposed alcohol reform strategy.
“Buying into a brand that ‘gives back’ is a powerful thing. A key element to a modern, profitable wine list now needs to be seeking out this type of producer.” So says Harry Crowther who believes restaurants and bars should be thinking about putting truly sustainable wines on their lists, even in favour of organic wines, as consumers are now far more interested in ‘buying into’ brands that are putting sustainability first which makes them feel good to support them.
2017 Barolo, 2018 Barbaresco & Langhe Nebbiolo from a selection of vintages were the focus of an outstanding tasting last week at Westminster’s Church House writes Chris Wilson. In a week when many questioned how safe some of the larger portfolio tastings were being run, this one was impeccable in both its safety protocols and also its mix of producers from the well known dons of the region to lesser known estates. In addition Wilson picks his top 10 wines from the region to have on your radar.
The summer of 2021 will be remembered by the international wine community for the devastating fires that have wreaked havoc across so many of the world’s most famous wine regions. Over the last few days thousands of hectares of forest, and potentially hundreds of hectares of vines have been caught up in wild fires across Provence and large parts of south east France, wreaking havoc as they teared across the land. Here, in an impassioned opinion piece, Stephen Cronk, owner of Mirabeau describes what it has been like to feel the brute force of nature and how close he, his family and team came to losing their new Domaine property and why we all need to wake up to the dangers of climate change and take real, effective action.
Champagne expert Robert Walters believes that Champagne producers talk a lot about terroir while at the same time blend it away in the name of house style. But is Champagne house style simply part of the shiny facade of luxury brand marketing, or does it go deeper than that? Tom Hewson speaks to Alice Paillard and Charles Philipponnat about what makes good house style in Champagne and how they try and achieve complexity and personality in a multi-vintage, multi-vineyard blend.
Finding the right wine for your list is ultimately what being a wine buyer is all about. Half the battle is getting access to source the wines that are right for your buying needs and the venue you are buying for. It’s why the London Wine Competition is fast becoming one of the key competitions for wine professionals as it only uses commercial buyers as judges who assess wines in the same way they might in their role: by their quality; their price and value for money; and what they look like with their packaging and design. Here’s how you can take part in the 2022 awards.
As well as all its thrills and spills the Tokyo Olympics also put mental health back on the national agenda as athletes and competitors from around the world openly talked about all the huge pressures they face doing what is effectively their job in their work environment. Here, in the first of a new regular series of articles from Michael Page, one of the world’s biggest recruitment consultancies, Nicholas Kirk, identifies the top five measures employers can be taking to support their staff through this ever-changing time in the work place.
The last 15 months have polarised the on and off-trades like never before. Whilst retailers struggled to keep up with demand from customers holed up at home for much of the time, the on-trade has either been completely shut or operating on half measures, dictated to by the rule of six and social distancing rules. But rather than look enviously at what the off-trade has been able to do, Harry Crowther believes the best on-trade operators will be taking lessons, analysing what wines were actually sold and then use those findings in re-imagining the wine offers in their restaurants, bars and pubs. Here he explains why.
South American wine expert Amanda Barnes is in no doubt – Itata really does have it all. Incredible old vines, artisanal producers, ancient granite soils, unique grape varieties and a mild climate where dry farming and sustainable viticulture come with ease. It has old vines to rival the pre-phylloxera ‘ancestors’ of Barossa Valley in Australia, its revolution is just as notable as that of the Swartland in South Africa, and yet, Itata is still somewhat under the radar for most wine drinkers. Here’s why Barnes think that’s set to change.
Biodynamic farming is being damned by a group of Italian scientists who have started a petition, claiming that the practice is witchcraft. A leading senator backing the scientists has declared (somewhat unbelievably) “we risk giving legal recognition to flat-earthers who preach magic and witchcraft.” The aim of this petition, which has surpassed a staggering 31,000 signatories, is to overturn a bill which would put biodynamic farming on the same standing as organic farming, thereby allowing biodynamic practitioners to receive state aid. So puzzled about this state of affairs was wine consultant and restaurateur Mike Turner, that he decided to delve into the matter and ask some fundamental questions about all types of farming, talk to South African winemaker of the year Johan Reyneke, and generally put some positive PR out there for biodynamic farming.
Offering customers exactly what they want is a key aim of everyone in hospitality. But, in order to achieve that, we need to understand more fully how the brain works in its connection to the perception of flavour and eating behaviour argues Dr Qian Janice Wang who uses wine as the medium through which to study the human mind. Restaurateur, wine consultant and importer, Mike Turner, had an audience with Janice at the Somms’ Edition of the Spanish Wine Academy initiative operated by Ramon Bilbao. Here he learnt why people will pay more if they eat with heavier cutlery and why even the most hardened wine critic can still be fooled by fake rosé.
“Ask no questions, and you’ll be told no lies…” This now famous line line from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens also works very well when getting to the heart of good restaurant wine training and helping staff understand what is expected of them when trying to sell wine to a room full of customers, each with very different needs and tastes when it comes to buying wine. In his latest wine training column, Harry Crowther, looks at the importance of building an immediate rapport with customers by asking them the right questions.
For Mike Turner, restaurateur, consultant and wine writer, the latest Somms Edition was the best webinar he has been involved with to date. Fronted by El Bulli’s Ferran Centelles and including some of the world’s top sommeliers working in a variety of units, it featured different reopening strategies as hospitality looks to bounce back hard from the global pandemic. Andy Myers MS, Marie-Paule Herman, Roberto Duran, Arnaud Echalier and Roman Sosnovskiy examined staffing issues, how to build a post-lockdown team and changing trends and habits in a post-COVID world. The question was asked… does the industry need both a spiritual and an emotional overhaul?
If you are one of the many drinks companies that have gone online in the last year and started selling direct to consumer you might want to grab a coffee and read on. Here Tom Harvey, co-founder of the specialist drinks marketing agency, YesMore, gives what he says are the four key pieces of advice any brand, retailer or business selling anything DTC need to be 100% on top of if they are going to carry on with a successful e-commerce model.
Vaccines are boosting wine drinker’s confidence to go out eating and drinking again, but Harry Crowther questions whether all operators are playing up to that confidence in the wine ranges and choices they are offering. Here in his latest article looking at how best to train your staff with the most relevant on-trade wine skills he calls on restaurants and bars to be braver in the wine lists they are offering and makes the case for why now is the ideal time to introduce more diverse and adventurous wine lists.
In his swansong annual en primeur report Michael Schuster, the only UK-based wine critic to jump through all the necessary hoops to go and physically taste at the châteaux this year, examines Bordeaux 2020. Having covered Bordeaux en primeur for every campaign since 1982 (bar one), Schuster is better placed than most to place this exceptional but variable vintage into an historical context. In this extract from his 20,000-word World of Fine Wine report, Schuster looks at 10 headlines from the vintage, explores the changing ideals within Bordeaux and gives some recommendations on what we should be buying.
How do you market something that no one has heard of? Good question and one that Dan Hooper, co-founder of the YesMore drinks marketing agency looks to answer as he sets out the steps any new brand needs to take if you are looking to not only launch a new product, but start a new category as well. Be it Seedlip, Jagermeister or Aperol Spritz, the drinks sector is full of brands that have created very successful niches of their own through great products, but arguably even better marketing and promotion.
Sustainability in wine has long been an issue that the industry as a whole has skirted around, leaving it mostly to individual producers or generic bodies to take the lead. Well with Tobias Webb the sector might finally have the central figure, the driving force to bring so many of the world’s efforts to tackle sustainability together. It is also something he does in other sectors and believes he has the experience to know how to do that through his Sustainable Wine company, a new cross sector Sustainable Wine Roundtable and a conference next month – the Future of Wine Americas. He explains how he hopes he can drive the sustainability agenda forward.
Often neglected because of Furmint, its more famous parent, Hárslevelű is due its ‘time in the sun’, argues Hungarian wine world expert Caroline Gilby MW. Hárslevelű is blended into acidic Furmint to build the mid-palate, making the wine longer and deeper, but curiously the other way round and just a small percentage of Furmint will overwhelm Hárslevelű’s unique varietal character. Tokaj’s high percentage of women winemakers are also playing a strong part in building back Hárslevelű’s reputation and are responsible for many of the grape’s most exciting interpretations.
