• How much real value is there in virtual Champagne tasting?

    With little to celebrate in the world right now and the on-trade dormant, sales of Champagne have been dealt a bitter blow. But, in some arenas, sales of prestige and vintage Champagne are witnessing sales at near-Christmas time levels. Sara Underdown looks at the ‘new normal’ of E-sales and virtual Champagne tastings, talks to growers, importers, and associations – plus the likes of The Finest Bubble and Tyson Stelzer who are finding successful new business models that are generated healthy sales.

    With little to celebrate in the world right now and the on-trade dormant, sales of Champagne have been dealt a bitter blow. But, in some arenas, sales of prestige and vintage Champagne are witnessing sales at near-Christmas time levels. Sara Underdown looks at the ‘new normal’ of E-sales and virtual Champagne tastings, talks to growers, importers, and associations – plus the likes of The Finest Bubble and Tyson Stelzer who are finding successful new business models that are generated healthy sales.

    mm By June 1, 2020

    “The support has been amazing, and we’ve even been able to organise small growers to access new markets through a retail presence for the first time,” says Stelzer.

    Champagne may very well be the drink of celebration, but with little to celebrate since the advent of COVID-19, sales have been dealt an almighty blow. A birthday or anniversary dinner, date night, or even #TGIF drinks makes champagne a natural accompaniment for the non-existent on-trade.

    But as restaurants have pivoted to new business models, taking advantage of home delivery and at-home catering options, champagne is vying to recover some lost scope online. E-sales and virtual tastings are Champagne’s new ‘normal’, seizing the moment to engage would-be diners who find themselves increasingly bored and socially frustrated by life at home.

    virtual champagne
    Virtual Champagne tastings are becoming ubiquitous, but how can their value be determined?

    Virtual value

    The rise and rise of virtual Champagne tastings have made them appear ubiquitous, almost ‘on tap’, any day or night of the week. Paid for, free to air, live-streaming on Instagram, Facebook or via Zoom; it’s practically impossible to miss an opportunity to tune-in when scanning the landscape of otherwise prosaic news and junkets of social media.

    They are, for the most part, initiated by nascent champagne-loving communities, suffering withdrawals from tastings, trade events, catch-ups with friends and even from travelling abroad to their spiritual homeland – Champagne. Champagne houses and growers ‘feed’ their most loyal followers and representatives with guest appearances and some insider’s dialogue, a virtual ‘walk’ through the vineyards and maybe a short tasting or two. But with no direct link to sales or a specific marketing objective, what value do these virtual tastings bring to champagne’s plight?

    Francois Huré, a grower in the Montagne de Reims region of Champagne, has been one of the most prolific on social media, popping-up in numerous virtual experiences hosted by supporters from the world. Right now, he says, the goal is to stay in touch with customers, distributors and sales representatives. “It does not affect the sales today, but I hope it will in the next few months,” he says.

    virtual champagne
    Sessions are free on The Finest Bubble but linked to online sales

    Some savvy operators, however, have been quick to market with commercialised formats, vertically integrating virtual experiences from the ground-up to include producers, importers/distributors, retailers and (ultimately) presenters. Nick Baker from London’s The Finest Bubble, online retailer for champagne and sparkling wines, was one of the first to move on this idea. The start of each week becomes a countdown to Friday night’s virtual affair – a kind of champagne date – with long-time affiliate and champagne expert, Essi Avellan MW. Sessions are free, held live on Instagram, and attract up to 700 viewers each time. Specials are offered on the four or five champagnes flagged for tasting and participants are encouraged to ‘pick and mix’ to receive an extra discount on six bottles.

    “Featuring a diversity of champagnes and topics each week inspires customers to go ‘off piste’ and choose more champagnes,” says Baker.

    It has also compensated for a sharp decline in corporate gifting, the impact of which has been further reduced by friends and family sending each other champagne to spread some cheer with online parties. Remarkably, sales have experienced a significant uplift to almost the levels seen at Christmas time.

    virtual champagne
    Tyson Stelzer – 120 participants paid $AUD50 each to attend his first virtual tasting

    Australia’s Tyson Stelzer, award-winning author of The Champagne Guide, is another example. His fortnightly virtual tasting programme is well-orchestrated, executed using a question and answer format with chefs de caves and representatives from Champagne’s finest houses. Sessions have been purposefully designed to work in partnership with importers and a network of independent retailers across Australia to drive value at every link in the chain. Stelzer’s first instalment was with the affable Cyril Brun, chef de caves of Charles Heidsieck. It attracted more than 120 participants – including from Japan and the United States – who paid $AUD50 per device to ‘Zoom’ into the experience.

    Stelzer says it’s impossible to know the value of any spin-off sales from virtual tastings, but a few anecdotal observations may point to a wider impact. By this he refers to social promotions for cuvées on the tasting list for each event, sent out via EDMs, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Rallying agents and retailers to share these and run their own promotions allows them to bring in additional stock and produce special offers, he says. Feedback confirms that participants do in fact refer to retail partners when buying stock for each event.

    “The support has been amazing, and we’ve even been able to organise small growers to access new markets through a retail presence for the first time,” says Stelzer.

    And then there are private virtual tastings, emerging as a way for people to stay connected in a meaningful way by substituting a big night out with a big night in. Stelzer points to one example he organised – an anniversary dinner – featuring premium champagnes, beautifully boxed and delivered to guests before the event kicked-off. Days later, he took a call from one of the guests who loved the champagne so much, he ordered $AUD20K worth.

    And in London, elite wine merchant, Hedonism, was reported in Club Oenologique that their private virtual tastings, which includes a leading wine educator, can command up to £150-350 per couple.

    virtual champagne
    Since the start of COVID-19 there has been a huge decrease in Champagne sales: Jean-Marie Barillère (r)

    Some surprises                                                                                                                                                                       

    As Champagne’s focus shifts from the on-trade to online, a spike in vintage and prestige sales has followed, while the non-vintage category has fallen flat. Alexandra Tilling, Brand Manager for MMD, which represents Louis Roederer, says that a large part of their traditional customer base is the on-trade. But retail is now booming and vintage champagnes are performing strongly. Nick Baker from The Finest Bubble has also seen a massive lift in vintage and prestige purchases with Louis Roederer’s Cristal and Dom Pérignon faring best. Similar patterns have been observed in other parts of the globe, including the United States, Japan and Australia.

    But this is not to say that champagne is doing well, quite the opposite. There has been a ‘huge decrease’ in overall sales since COVID-19, according to Jean-Marie Barillère, co-president of Champagne’s trade association, the Comité Champagne. By how much, exactly, it is too early to tell. Nonetheless, it’s particularly salient (and disappointing) following a record-breaking year that reached €5.0 billion turnover, up 3.4% on the previous record set in 2018, thanks to dynamic growth in prestige cuvées and low dosage wines in the European Union and the rest of the world.

    So, why is the upper-end of the champagne category so out of step with the rest? Especially as the world’s economy struggles and people fear gravely for job security. Tilling believes there will always be a desire to celebrate the smaller things well – like birthdays and anniversaries – and that champagne continues to offer value, particularly vintage styles. It could also be that in lieu of cancelled travel plans and special dinners, people are spending more on wine consumption at home.

    It’s not all about money

    As the UK, and the rest of Europe, moots continuing the closure of restaurants, it will be these small virtual opportunities that conveys support for the champagne category, which is seriously struggling right now. Whether or not they propel meaningful sales is another question – and it may be entirely beside the point –because staying engaged across the market boosts morale and a robustness required for future recovery. Indeed, the industry will need some rigour!

    Assuming that champagne at the prestige level will be heartily resilient, as it has been through such historical events as the global financial crisis, efforts will need to be concentrated on the slower rate of recovery expected at the lower end of the market where the on-trade inspires casual and frequent celebratory drinking.

    One can only assume things will get off to a good start. Of course, there’s no better wine to celebrate with once restrictions are significantly eased.

    Sara Underdown is the Editor of a boutique Australian-based publication dedicated exclusively to Champagne – VINE & BUBBLE. She is a two-time finalist in the prestigious Vin de Champagne Awards, shortlisted in the 2019 Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards and, in 2020, became a finalist in the Born Digital Wine Awards for best interview.

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