Charles Heidsieck appoints Elise Losfelt as Cellar Master

Champagne house Charles Heidsieck has named Elise Losfelt as its new cellar master, taking over from Cyril Brun. The announcement was made today, on International Women’s Day as the collective wine community celebrates women in the industry.

An agricultural engineer from AgroParisTech with a master’s in Wine and Vine along with a national diploma in Oenology, 36-year-old Losfelt has worked in Champagne for the last ten years in various roles at Moët & Chandon. She began her journey in a wine communication role, and subsequently, as head of winemaking for Moët & Chandon, she worked with cellar masters from Moët & Chandon, Mercier, Ruinart and Dom Pérignon.  Losfelt developed her winemaking experience initially by participating in harvests in Majorca (Domaine Mortitx), Saint-Julien (Château Beychevelle) and Australia (Domaine Dominique Portet).

Reflecting on her appointment, Losfelt said: “I have enormous respect for the creativity and rigour of my predecessors and I hope to make a coherent contribution to the continuity of the house style. It is with humility and enthusiasm that I join with these passionate men and women to work together in forging the fate of this iconic House.”

Her predecessor, Cyril Brun, joined Charles Heidsieck in 2015 and recently masterminded the new Champagne Charlie, an iconic House cuvée that enjoyed a renaissance in 2022.

Stephen Leroux, CEO of the House of Charles Heidsieck added: “Throughout his career here Cyril has been much liked by our teams and distributors as well as by our clients and journalist friends throughout the world. He has written a chapter in the long Charles Heidsieck history book, and we thank him for his contribution to the house, his commitment, and his contagious cheerfulness. We wish him every success in his future endeavours.”

 

 

 

SNDL Expands “Wine and Beyond” into Saskatchewan

SNDL Inc. [Nasdaq: SNDL] announced last week that it has successfully obtained two liquor retail licenses in Regina and Saskatoon, through the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (“SLGA”) auction. The Company will leverage these licenses to expand its premium liquor banner, Wine and Beyond, into the final stage of the liquor retail transition to the private sector in Saskatchewan.

“We are excited to bring our Wine and Beyond banner into Saskatchewan, specifically in the key markets of Regina and Saskatoon,” said Tank Vander, President of Liquor Retail at SNDL. “Due to Saskatchewan’s low distribution of liquor licenses and high liquor sales per capita, SNDL expects stable and accretive growth in the two new stores. We are eager to introduce consumers to the Wine and Beyond brand, as we believe there is demand in the market for a premium liquor retail model.”

The Company’s 12 operating Wine and Beyond locations generated $135 million in revenue on an annualized basis for the three months ended September 30, 2022. This demonstrates the banner’s continued popularity and robust store performance, which SNDL anticipates will extend to the Saskatchewan market. Wine and Beyond’s initial launch in the two largest Saskatchewan cities will help SNDL to evaluate future expansion opportunities in the province.

 

A leading nutrition scientist discovers red wine is good for us, but variety is key

Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, in his recent study which involved participants in the UK, US and Belgium. He suggests that wine drinkers look at drinking a wider range of red grape varieties, including unpopular varieties. In doing this, he states will boost our immune system, fight diseases, healthier gut and improve mental health.

He told Wine Blast podcast: “My advice for wine-lovers is keep loving wine and still drink wine, primarily for the pleasure, but at the back of your mind think, could I be trying different bottles or varieties that might actually be healthier for me and that I might enjoy?”

Professor Spector also states: “diversity is also important – if you take the analogy from foods, having a range of different grape varieties in your diet means that you are going to be helping different gut microbes inside you and you will increase your gut health and diversity. So, don’t just stick with the same wine. Get out there. try the hundreds or thousands of different grape varieties that we generally don’t enjoy.”

“Let’s get those rare ones back on the map again, because each of those could be helping you nourish really healthy gut microbes inside you and improve your health.’ A study led by Professor Spector’s team in 2019 found those who drank red wine had a wider range of gut bacteria. this was not seen for white wine, which may be because red wine has the grape skins left in for most of the fermentation process, so has high levels of polyphenols – plant compounds which are good for the gut.

Professor Spector is not suggesting people have full power to over-indulge in red and states: “The trick is to get the dose right, as always. That’s something that we all struggle with and it’s very individual. That’s why this government approach, [where] most countries say there are a certain amount of units that most men and women should have, is problematic.”

“Your response to alcohol is highly personalised and of course some people can’t drink it at all. So, we think that alcohol on one hand in large amounts is harmful but in small amounts, if might be okay.”

Bushmills releases its final release of Causeway Collection

Bushmills Irish Whiskey has unveiled the tenth and final release from its current Causeway Collection, a 33-Year-Old Port Cask, to be sold exclusively in World Duty-Free’s stores at Heathrow Airport.

It’s the oldest expression ever released from “The Old Bushmills Distillery”, with only 690 bottles of the cask finished, cask strength (53.3% abv), non-chill-filtered Irish single malt.

Alex Thomas, Bushmills master blender, said: “It is truly a privilege to work with such rare whiskeys in The Causeway Collection. They are the fruits of over 400 years of Bushmills whiskey-making tradition, each expertly created and nurtured over decades.

“We are proud to build on the growing legacy of The Causeway Collection and excited to share our 33-Year-Old Port Cask with whiskey fans traveling through Heathrow from all corners of the globe,” Thomas added.

Filled on 19 April 1989, this rare bottling has spent 33 years maturing in fortified wine casks from northern Portugal.

The whiskey will be available to purchase in World Duty Free stores at Heathrow Airport for an rsp of £1,245 and in World Duty Free’s specialist World of Whiskies stores at Heathrow.

 

Ontario’s VQA Wine and Grape Industry’s “2030 Vision” anticipates substantial growth

Ontario’s VQA Wine and Grape Industry’s newly released 2030 Vision anticipates substantial growth in this sector of the provincial economy, fueling increases in investment, market share, jobs and related wine tourism.

“The growing recognition of the quality of Ontario VQA wines, the excellence of our wine country tourism experiences and the opportunities for growth will combine to take our world-class industry to another level, with premium wine at the centre of a thriving economy and culture,” said Del Rollo, Chair of Wine Growers Ontario.

Among the projected growth targets within the next seven years, the “2030 Vision” predicts:

  • Over 40,000 direct and indirect jobs in Ontario’s grape and wine production, wine tourism and hospitality sectors;
  • Annual Ontario VQA wine sales of more than half a billion dollars (up from $385 million per year currently), with all-channel share of Ontario’s wine market growing by 20 per cent (from current 13 per cent);
  • Three million annual visitors to Ontario’s wine regions (up from 2.6 million today); and
  •  A 75 per cent increase in capital investment by Ontario wine producers, with 4 million new vines planted over 20,000 acres.

A summary of Ontario’s VQA Wine & Grape Industry “2030 Vision” can be found here: https://winecountryontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2030-Vision_Executive-Summary-web.pdf

“Are these ambitious goals? They are, but they are absolutely achievable,” said Carolyn Hurst, Chair of Ontario Craft Wineries. “To get there, we need to come together – the grape and wine industry, our culinary and hospitality partners, and government.”

VQA wines are made with 100 per cent Ontario-grown grapes. Ontario has 18,000 acres under vine and has grown to 191 VQA wineries, concentrated in the Niagara Peninsula, Prince Edward County and Lake Erie North Shore. Advanced cool-climate viticultural research and technologies support emerging wine regions across the province of Ontario in Norfolk and Haldimand Counties, Central Ontario and Georgian Bay, Huron Shores and Eastern Ontario.

The Ontario wine industry contributes $5.5 billion annually to the province’s economy. In 2019, 22,000 full-time equivalent jobs were supported in the agriculture, food and beverage, hospitality, tourism, education and research sectors.