Category: Champagne

Laurent-Perrier Champagne Fizzes in H1

Laurent-Perrier has continued on an upward curve during the first six months of its new fiscal year, driven by strong demand for its namesake Champagne in the US and Japan.

Laurent-Perrier net sales rose by 13.3% for the six months to the end of September, to EUR92m (US$123.7m), outperforming France’s Champagne sector over the same period, it said yesterday (30 November). By comparison, the group’s volume sales rose by 5.8% over the half-year, which will provide some relief to industry concerns that pricing has struggled to recover from the global economic crash in 2008.

The strong sales carried through Laurent-Perrier accounts. Operating profits doubled on the same period of last year, to EUR19.89m, with net profits tripling, up by 221% to EUR9.5m. The results confirmed good momentum at Laurent-Perrier, cycling a 75% jump in net profits and a 23% rise in sales in the first half of the group’s previous year.

Liz Palmer
@champagnehouses

Spectrum Wine’s Second Anniversary Auction Includes Krug and Cristal Champagne Brunch

Spectrum Wine Auctions’ Second Anniversary Auction will take place December 3rd & 4th at 11:00 a.m. at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Hotel.

All registered bidders are invited to celebrate the auction with a Champagne brunch featuring pours of Krug and Cristal, which starts promptly at 11:00 a.m. The two-day event features a total of 1,631 lots of rare and collectible wines, and carries a pre-sale estimate of HK $50.4 million.

Highlights include more than 600 lots of top-shelf Burgundy including nearly 175 lots of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, as well as H. Jayer Richebourg, Domaine Méo-Camuzet, Domaine Leroy. The sale also offers several cases of First Growth Bordeaux in OWC.

Bids may be placed live in the auction room, online, by phone, in advance via fax or through Spectrum Wine’s new iPhone/iPad bidding app. Interested buyers may preview 360-degree photographs of bottles from each lot prior to the sale, and may request a complimentary catalog at spectrumwine.com.

Liz Palmer
@champagnehouses

IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS INDIA WILL REACH ONE OF THE TOP TEN LARGEST CONSUMERS OF CHAMPAGNE ….says Daniel Lalonde of LVMH

Daniel Lalonde, Chief Executive of LVMH is in India for the first time. Being interviewed at the top floor of Delhi’s recently opened Leela Palace Hotel, he states: “India is acquiring a taste for Champagne. Not only is it the 27th largest consumer of Champagne in the world,” he says. “But I believe that in the next few years India can easily reach the top 10.”

India is doing its bit. A few kilometers south, at the F Bar nightclub, where Lalonde’s company has established a Dom Perignon lounge to promote its luxury Champagne. Indians flush with money frequently a few times a week and spend upwards of Rs35,000 a bottle on bubbly.

Liz Palmer
@champagnehouses

Champagne Launch: Moët & Chandon’s Golden Premium Jeroboam… “Message ON a Bottle”

Lavishly wrapped in gold leaves and hand-gilt by French artisan Arthus Bertrand, each limited edition Golden Premium Jeroboam will come with a marked gold medallion and an Epernay wax seal. The traditional handcrafted Moet & Chandon ribbon is also part of the luxe bottle’s decoration. Moët & Chandon has made each bottle unique, by offering a special pen so the consumer can create a special moment of celebration. Personalization is very important in Moet & Chandon’s tradition, they have created numerous custom bottles for special events, including the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the wedding of Grace of Monaco.

Liz Palmer
@champagnehouses

Champagne Deutz to Make U.S. Representation Transition in 2012

After 13 years within the Maisons Marques & Domaines USA, Inc. (MMD) portfolio, Champagne Deutz will soon enter a new phase in the U.S. market.

Starting in 2012 Champagne Deutz will initiate a Regional Representation strategy, which means the brand will be represented by importers/distributors independent from the Champagne Louis Roederer network; thus following the worldwide protocol for the brand.

Fabrice Rosset, Chairman & CEO of Champagne Deutz, states: “Our worldwide strategy has been to have a separate importer from the rest of the wineries within the Group Roederer. It has served us well and we feel now is the time for the U.S. to follow the same strategy. I would like to commend MMD and its marketing and sales teams for building the image of our House and for establishing our presence nationally.”

Gregory Balogh, President & CEO of MMD, comments: “We are proud of our achievement and our partnership with Champagne Deutz over these many years. It has allowed the brand to get the attention it deserves in the highly competitive U.S. market. We wish our colleagues and friends of Champagne Deutz success in the future. We will always remain fans of this great brand.”

CHAMPAGNE DEUTZ
One of the oldest members of Champagne’s prestigious Grandes Marques houses, Champagne Deutz of Ay, France, (www.champagne-deutz.com ) has been making distinctive champagnes marked by finesse, elegance and complexity since 1838. The house has upheld the traditions of fine Champagne making handed down through five generations. Owning a significant portion of its own vineyards, Deutz selects only top rated grapes from 275 acres of vineyards in the finest crus of Champagne. The wines are slowly and carefully aged in the chalk-walled cellars far beneath the historic village of Ay.

Liz Palmer
@champagnehouses