Category: News

The CIVB (Conseil Interprofessionnel du vin de Bordeaux) to set aside wines from 2020 to reduce oversupply

At its AGM last week, the Bordeaux wine marketing council CIVB unanimously approved the introduction of a reserve stock aimed at “reducing the increase in marketable inventories of red Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur appellations”. By adopting an amendment to the three-year trade agreement for 2020-2023, the CIVB is pursuing the objective outlined last year by chairman Bernard Farges, which is “to re-establish a balance between supply and demand for Bordeaux wines”.

“We are currently witnessing an imbalance in the market due to crop levels in excess of sales”, sums up Ann-Cécile Delavallade, head of the CIVB’s economic department. According to the statistician’s estimates, inventories of AOC Bordeaux should reach 2.2 million hectolitres during the 2019-2020 marketing season, which is a 21% rise in one year, before distillation is taken into account. Stocks of Bordeaux Supérieur are estimated at 1.05 million hl (+14%). “We are seeing an upward trend in stocks, requiring the introduction of regulatory measures”, stresses Delavallade.

The Bordeaux region will benefit from crisis distillation – 450,000 hectolitres are currently subsidized though an extension is needed. It will also cut its yields significantly in 2020, dropping to 50 hectolitres per hectare for Bordeaux, compared with 54 hl/ha in 2019. Nevertheless, the idea of introducing collective stocks is being viewed as a complementary measure. In practice, volumes set aside are “calculated on the basis of 2020 appellation applications: above 45 hl/ha for AOC Bordeaux and 43 hl/ha for AOC Bordeaux Supérieur, both within the limits of authorized annual yields”. This represents a 10% reduction in the immediate marketing potential of the two AOCs.

Argentina joins New Zealand, South Africa, Chile, Canada and the US/California in forming a New World Wine Alliance to boost performance in the Chinese market

Industry body Wines of Argentina has signed an agreement with Shanghai’s Grapea & Co to be part of the alliance aimed at furthering the perception of New World wine in China.

The project, which began in June and will run until October this year, will take the form of a marketing and educational campaign supported by Grapea & Co’s Yang Lu, China’s first Master Sommelier.

The campaign will focus on both online content, transmitted through social media and blogging platforms, as well as wine and sommelier competitions.

The free content will be available on the New World Wine WeChat account and will consist of 18 virtual masterclasses on New World wine regions and 42 videos on topics such as the wine history, viticulture, winemaking, news, cultural traditions and food and wine matching.

These will also be made available on other platforms including Tik Tok, Dianping, and T-Mall.

In addition, the initiative will also feature 22 live broadcasts from key industry figures and popular wine bloggers.

According to the latest data, the scheme has already proved successful. In the first 15 days after the launch in June, the content platforms recorded a total of 68,000 visits and more than 8,000 views of video content.

Commenting on Argentina’s involvement in the project, Maximiliano Hernández Toso, who took over as president of Wines of Argentina earlier this year, said: “Being part of a project of this magnitude reflects the recognition that Argentine wine has gained internationally and the development of its industry.

“I believe that this is a great opportunity for our flagship product to expose its full potential, supporting and accompanying the drive of the collective strength of regions and countries that scale the world stage. We are confident of the impact of continued education and in working with international opinion leaders, such as, in this case, Yang Lu, the only Chinese Master Sommelier in the world.”

It follows news that Argentina was the only country to record an increase in both import volume and value of wine sent to China between January and May this year.

Women in Wine Talks — Fall Schedule

Les Dames d’Escoffier Ontario (Canada) is proud to host  “Women in Wine Talks™” as an online platform to raise awareness of women in the wine industry to impact positive change. We shine the spotlight on global women business leaders, winemakers, authors and industry experts.

The Concept
Women in Wine Talks™ are inspiring conversations, virtual wine-tastings and panel discussions with wine industry experts.

“Memorable and Elevated Virtual Experiences”

Women in Wine Talks™ is designed for every wine lover, at all levels; with international participation.

Past speakers included:

Elizabeth Gabay, MW
One of the world’s foremost authorities on rosé wines, is the author of ‘Rosé: Understanding the Pink Wine Revolution’, and President of the Jury at International Rosé Challenge – Rose Tasting and Talk.

Maggie Henriquez, Ph.D., CEO Krug
Leadership in Challenging Times with Maggie Henriquez CEO of Krug Champagne – Leadership Talk

Janet Dorozynski, PhD
Trade Commissioner Canadian Wine, Beer and Spirits
Q and A with Moderator: Shari Mogk-Edwards

Watch this space for our upcoming talks commencing September 2020, which will include:

Beatrice Cointreau
She was born into a long line of vine-growers and distillers.  Beatrice has her Master of  Law, in business, an MBA, studied at the Bordeaux Institute of Oenology, and at the ISIPCA European School of perfumery. She is also the great-granddaughter of the Cointreau liquor founder and granddaughter of the founder of Rémy Martin.

Reva Singh
Founder & Editor-in-Chief of India’s first wine magazine Sommelier India

Ariane Khaida
Executive Director of the Chateau Wines Division Barons de Rothschild

Lorraine Immelman
CEO, Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards (South Africa)

Father and Daughter team of Michel Drappier and Charline Drappier of Champagne Drappier

Ann Sperling
A leading force in the Canadian movement towards organic and biodynamic fine winemaking 9BC Winery and winery in Argentina)

Alysha Harker
Canadian Director for Riedel

…and many more exciting speakers in the world of wine and spirits!

Recent Testimonials:

What a successful inaugural virtual event! It was very interesting to learn there are over 400 appellations for Rosé wines, and how the various regions are grouped together. Elizabeth Gabay is exceptionally knowledgeable, and very generous sharing her passion, about Rosé wines. As she spoke to us from her home in the south of France, it was entertaining tasting wines virtually and comparing comments with each of the participants. There are a few I plan to try as a result! I am looking forward to the next virtual wine event!  Shari Mogk-Edwards

Janet Doroznyski’s presentation
Very informative and helpful presentation.  Thank you!
Jessica DiFruscia

I was honoured to be included in the LDEO Women in Wine Talks. Leadership in Challenging Times with Maggie Henriquez was inspirational and poignant.  Ms. Henriquez shared her life work and experiences while sharing optimism for the future.  Thank you Liz for setting this up.
Doris Bradley, Professor, George Brown College

I was really pleased to participate to Women in Wine Talks’ on-line conference on last June 23rd: Leadership in Challenging Times with Maggie Henriquez, President and CEO of Krug Champagne. Maggie is a very high-level personality with a great and riche experience. During one hour, Maggie shared honestly her experiences in top-level wine and/or spirits global groups. Her words were really inspiring. We can define her as a self-made woman who had different leadership and crisis management experiences – as top-level group leader – in global groups in Southern America, Northern America, Europe.  She gave concrete examples of crisis management and solutions development through her own experience.  She also clearly told to participants her point of views and clues about trends after current covid-19 crisis: crisis is always a hard step full of challenges but generating new business opportunities.

The on-line conference organization was also very high-level. First of all, to share debates with Maggie and also at a technical level. We were over 25 people connected at the same time from different countries.

Special thanks to really great job done by Liz Palmer, Founder UPsocial Wine + Spirits and her associate, Virginia Hutton – Loïc OROFINO, France

Wonderful webinar with Maggie Henriquez, CEO of Maison Krug. Inspiring to hear her talk about the various times throughout her business career when the world, and wine world, was in the midst of a global crisis and how she navigated through – with the key message being to support and retain your staff against all odds. The only thing that would have made it better was to have a glass of Krug in hand.
Janet Dorozynski, Ph.D. Dip WSET, WSET® Certified Educator
Trade Commissioner, Canadian Wine, Beer and Spirits and TourismTrade Sectors Bureau (BBI)/Bureau de secteurs commerciaux (BBI)
Global Affairs Canada/Affaires mondiales Canada

Canadian Wine Imports Accelerate During the Pandemic

Canadian wine imports grew by 11% in May relative to the same month a year ago based on data collected by the Canada Border Services Agency. This follows a double-digit volume gain in April and a slight contraction in March. For the three-month period beginning in March, the month when the COVID-19 outbreak was officially declared a pandemic, wine imports increased by 6% to 13.3 million cases. This represents an acceleration in demand as imports had slipped a bit during the 12 months leading up to the pandemic.

Spirits also gained ground over the last three months with a 7% increase in volume, but beer imports plunged 16%.

Canada is the 8th largest global wine importer and imported wines, including bulk wines destined for International Canadian Blends (ICBs), represent around 85% of Canadian wine sales by volume. Among the largest provincial markets, growth has been strongest in British Columbia and Ontario. Quebec, the country’s leading wine importer, has experienced only a slight increase in volume since the pandemic began while Alberta has recorded a double-digit decline.

The value of imported wines has increased at a slower pace than volume – suggesting that consumers have traded down during the pandemic. Indeed, gains over the last three months were driven largely by surging bulk wine shipments (specifically from California), which are typically blended with domestic wine and marketed as value-priced ICBs. Bulk wine imports grew by 10% relative to the same period last year.

Packaged wine imports increased at about half that rate with wines in large format containers of two liters or more (think boxed wine) outpacing those arriving in smaller bottles. Italian wines led the pack in the packaged wine category with a 13% year-over-year increase in volume. Demand for bubbles also appears to have accelerated during the pandemic as sparkling wine imports popped by 13%.

The import data suggests that wine demand in Canada remains healthy, but the Canadian wine industry has not fared as well in terms of exports, though they are not a major source of income. For the three months ending in May, packaged wine exports declined by 54% in value and 66% in volume. By comparison, Canadian beer exports were down by nearly 25% in both value and volume while spirits bucked the trend with only a slight decline in volume and a solid gain in value.

Source:  Vintage Economics

The European Union Announces “Exceptional Support Measures” for Wine Sector

The Commission adopted yesterday an additional package of exceptional measures to support the wine sector, following the coronavirus crisis and its consequences on the sector. The wine sector is among the hardest hit agri-food sectors, due to rapid changes in demand and the closure of restaurants and bars across the EU, which was not compensated by home consumption.

These new measures include the temporary authorization for operators to self-organize market measures, the increase of the European Union’s contribution for wine national support programs, and the introduction of advance payments for crisis distillation and storage.

Janusz Wojciechowski, Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner states:“The wine sector has been among the sectors hit hardest by the coronavirus crisis and the related lockdown measures taken across the EU. The first package of market-specific measures adopted by the Commission has already provided significant support. Nonetheless, the uncertainties surrounding the scale of the crisis at EU and global level, and a close monitoring of the market has led us to propose a new package of measures for the wine sector. I am confident that these measures will provide rapidly concrete results for the EU wine sector and soon provide stability.”

The Exceptional Measures include:

  • Temporary derogation from the European Union’s competition rules: Article 222 of the Common Markets Organisation Regulation (CMO) allows the Commission to adopt temporary derogations from certain EU competition rules in situations of severe market imbalances. The Commission has now adopted such a derogation for the wine sector, allowing operators to self-organize and implement market measures at their level to stabilize their sector and in the respect of the functioning of the internal market for a maximum period of 6 months. For example, they will be allowed to plan joint promotion activities, to organize storage by private operators and to commonly plan production;
  • Increase of the European Union’s contribution: the European Union’s contribution for all measures of the national support programs will increase by 10% and reach 70%. A previous exceptional measure had already increased it from 50% to 60%. This will provide financial relief to beneficiaries;
  • Advanced payments for crisis distillation and storage: the Commission will allow Member States to provide advanced payments to operators for on-going distillation and crisis storage operations. These advances can cover up to 100% of costs and will allow Member States to fully utilize their national support program funds for this year.These measures complement the recently adopted package, which benefited the wine sector through the flexibility provided under market support programs. This included for instance an increased flexibility of tools to control production potential, the so-called green harvesting tool, and the possibility to include temporary new measures such as the opening of distillation of wine in case of crisis or an aid to crisis storage of wine.

In addition, the Commission also launched two calls for proposals for promotion that aim to support the sectors most affected by the crisis, including the wine sector. The two calls will be opened until 27 August 2020.
The commission said it is the first time that it has issued such calls. One call relates to ‘simple programs’, which can be submitted by one or more companies from the same EU country. The other relates to ‘multi programs’, which can be submitted by at least two companies from at least two EU member states, or by one or more European organizations. Janusz Wojciechowski, states that the first package of support measures had “already provided significant support”.