Wine Tech Archives

New Index “WB Stock Index (WBIX)” Tracks Performance of Public Wine Companies

A new tool rooted in publicly traded wine companies and offering insights into the health of the wine sector has launched on winebusiness.com.

The WB Stock Index (WBIX) is a composite metric representing a portfolio of 13 publicly traded wine companies, weighted by each company’s annual wine revenue. The index reflects the daily percentage change in stock price at the end of the previous business day according to the significance of each producer in the marketplace.

The baseline for the index is Jan. 1, 2020, a time of strong performance by other indices and well before the onset of pandemic disruptions. The index stood at 119.02 as of March 1, indicating that publicly traded vintners have seen fortunes strengthen during the pandemic. The market’s confidence in the sector as a whole remains high. The index is intended to provide a snapshot in time and help benchmark a company’s performance against its peers. Performance can vary depending on the interval chosen, meaning a comparison across several intervals can be helpful.

Some of the strongest performers have been the luxury wine companies LVMH and Pernod Ricard, which have both performed well as aspirational and discretionary spending remained strong over the past year. LVMH’s share price has increased 28% over the past year to $170.45 while Pernod Ricard’s increased 3% to $42.22. The gains continued in the latest three months, with LVMH up 14% and Pernod Ricard up 7%, underscoring the long-term momentum underpinning each company.

The least fortunate company among those tracked by the index has been Vintage Wine Estates, which has seen its share price fall 83% versus a year ago to $1.39, with much of the slide registered in the past three months after the company restated earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2023, released preliminary numbers for the second quarter that projected lower than expected revenue and gross margins for the year, and withdrew guidance on expectations for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends June 30. The company also made a change at CEO with founding partner Pat Roney moving to the role of executive chairman and Director Jon Moramarco assuming the role of interim CEO. Moramarco is also the editor of the Gomberg Fredrikson Report and founder of bw166. On March 10, the company announced it had sold a 42-acre vineyard in Napa Valley for $11 million to reduce its overall debt. Following the sale, Vintage reported it owns approximately 1,600 acres of vineyards and leases an additional 800 acres.

Vintage is significant enough to influence the index but not sway it. Two of the largest components are instead LVMH and domestic vintner Constellation Brands, which has increased 2% over the past year but fallen 11% in the latest three months as its most recent earnings report underwhelmed the investment community. This is in line with the challenges other public companies have seen.

While a value decline can indicate a lack of confidence by the markets, it also creates a buying opportunity for long-term investors. The Duckhorn Portfolio, for example, has underperformed the index with a 19% drop in its share price over the past year. Currently trading in the range of $14.99, its shares have ranged between $12.64 and $22.29 over the past 52 weeks. Despite a lower price, several analysts have maintained a buy rating on the stock, an expectation that its share price will increase and reward investors. Bank of America analysts are among them, while Barclays upgraded its rating on the stock because of its latest earnings report.

This is in contrast with response to shifts in Vintage’s stock price, where sentiment has shifted in favor of “sell” from a uniform “buy” rating a year ago. Canaccord Genuity Group is among the bears, noting that it had more questions than answers about the company’s financials and future.

When it comes to public perception, however, the market is largely in favor of the wine sector. WBIX has outperformed the S&P 500, rising nearly 4% over the past year as the S&P 500 fell nearly 7%. The latest three months have seen it increase 2%, or twice the growth posted by the S&P 500.

Link to Index: https://www.winebusiness.com/finance/wbix

Source: Wine Business

Winelikes and Balzac Communications partner to launch social networking app

The new social networking app “Winelikes” will be released as a beta version in a few weeks, connecting wine drinkers, wineries, bars and restaurants. The new app is designed to grow consumers’ wine knowledge, wine palates and help them share experiences along the way.

The app will allow you to generate a taste profile that will guide you towards the types of wines that you will most likely enjoy. As well, you can scroll through the interface and interact with the “Winelikes Community” which connects other users and locations, sharing photos and reviews.

Wineries, wine bars and restaurants will have a direct pathway to connect with customers. They will be able to target audiences within the app by easily creating advertisements and sending direct messages while also posting regularly.

Before starting Winelikes, Owner and CEO Jeff Gillis worked as a food and beverage director at numerous five-star properties. He believes the app will bring new people to wine and give current enophiles a way to chat with like-minded individuals.

“Learning about wine and finding out what you like is so difficult alone,” he said. “Our app will provide a fun way for people to discover wines that might appeal to them. They can learn more about wine through fun quizzes and conversations with others. Our simple yet modern interface makes it easy for Winelikes to serve individuals from every generation.”

Gillis also notes that Winelikes won’t use algorithms to suggest content, which differentiates it from many existing social media apps. “When you connect with others, you see their posts and not content a computer (or AI or algorithm) thinks you’re interested in,” he noted.

Gillis selected Balzac Communications and Marketing to help recruit influencers and build buzz for the app because of the firm’s expertise in both technology and wine. “Winelikes is a wine app, so it’s important to work with someone who is knowledgeable and has access to wine regions,” he said. “But we’re also a social media company that relies on technology. Balzac has the perfect balance of wine expertise and technology experience to make this company successful. Their location in the heart of wine country and connection to influential people in the industry will help us expand our reach and do it more quickly.”

“There are dozens of wine apps in the various marketplaces,” said Mike Wangbickler, president of Balzac Communications and Marketing. “Some are quite good, but none are truly social networking apps with a focus on wine. Winelikes is. Wine is a social beverage. We use it to toast to those we care about and share time with friends. The existing, big social networks are OK at connecting wine lovers and enthusiasts, but there is a ton of noise and wine is not their primary focus. With Winelikes, users can geek out as much as they want, or simply find friends with similar interests. In addition, companies selling wines have a receptive and available audience to tell their unique stories and grow their brand engagement.”

Ingredients listed on a wine label: a consumer’s perception study

A study dealing with: “Wine labeling with the list of ingredients: context, consumer’s perception and future challenges” was just released in anticipation of the new European Réglementation. The study questions the perception by the consumer of different types of ingredients on the label.

You can view this study here: https://www.wine-law.org/index.php/en/ingredients-on-wine-label-a-consumers-perception-study/

#wine #winelabelling #winenews #winestudy #winelovers #wineconsumer #winebottle #consumerresearch #winemaking

Wine-Searcher Integrates LWIN Wine Codes into its database

Wine-Searcher has recently incorporated Liv-ex’s LWIN wine codes into its database, making it easier to search for wines. The LWIN wine codes are the equivalent of an ISBN number for books – these codes give users an additional means to find the wines they are looking for.

The Process

Type in “LWIN” followed by the seven-digit unique wine code, and this will automatically bring up international offers.

For example, entering “LWIN 1012361” or “LWIN1012361” into the site’s search bar will bring up all offers related to Château Léoville Barton, whose seven-digit LWIN code is 1012361. It is expected that this addition to Wine-Searcher’s search functionality will improve site experience for both users and merchants.

“We are delighted to incorporate Liv-ex’s LWIN codes into this database to make wine matching and discovery simpler and more accurate for our wide range of industry users,” said Wine-Searcher’s Wine Director, David Allen MW.

“It’s great to see such a significant industry player as Wine-Searcher incorporate the LWIN codes along with others like Vinous, Berry Brothers & Rudd, and London City Bond. The Wine Searcher integration makes more data points (beyond Liv-ex prices) available to more wine businesses worldwide, ” said Liv-ex director Anthony Maxwell.

LWIN is a free-to-use database of unique codes, produced by online wine trading platform Liv-ex and assigned to more than 125,000 different wines and spirits. The codes allow computer systems across the industry to exchange information rapidly and seamlessly, helping businesses throughout the supply chain describe, price, buy, sell and ship wine more efficiently.

The LWIN search functionality now falls within Wine-Searcher’s database of 16 million offers for wines beers and spirits. There are four variations on the code with the most straightforward being the seven-digit identifier, which denotes a single wine or label. For instance, LWIN 1012361 is the grand vin of Château Léoville Barton, while LWIN 1437818 is Benjamin Leroux’s Meursault Premier Cru, La Pièce sous le Bois.

LWIN codes can extend further with the 11, 16 and 18-digit codes adding vintage, bottle size and pack or case size, respectively. Wine-Searcher has integrated the LWIN7, 11, 16 and 18 codes in the search box (as well as incorporating them in the merchant data feed and text API).

Source: The Wine-Searcher

@winesearcher #winesearcher #winenews #winetec #winetechnology #rarewines #finewines #winecollector #winecellar #winelovers #wine #wineinvestment #winebusiness #livex

Winechain [a NFT platform] raises €6 million for expansion

Winechain, an NFT platform specializing in fine wine sales, has raised €6 million of backing from some of the best-known names in fine wine, ahead of its launch later this year.

The start-up, which was founded by the former head of Amazon Europe, Xavier Garambois, Guillaume Jourdan, CEO of VitaBella and Nicolas Mendiharat, CEO of the San Francisco Palate Club, launched at the end of May 2022, after securing over $1 million in backing from wine estates and wine lovers.

It has now upped its investment to $6 million and secured backing by the Rouzaud family of Champagne Roederer and Château Pichon-Comtesse, along with the Reybier family of St Emilion’s Château Cos d’Estournel, and a venture capital fund, Fabric Ventures, with the aim to accelerate its technological development.

The platform aims to be a “new generation” marketplace of wine NFTS, which is called wiNeFTs, which uses blockchain technology and Web3 (a new iteration of the worldwide web which incorporates blockchain technology and token-based economics) to enable an “interactive” direct-to-consumer sales channel that is backed by global logistics, the company previously said. It has already signed up global logistics provider CMA CGM Group, which has taken a minority shareholding in Winechain along with its founder, CEO Rodolphe Saadé.

Winemakers that are part of the platform can choose which wines they wish to sell on Winechain, and access to the platform’s global community of buyers, meaning they can interact with their community of buyers directly.

Frédéric Rouzaud CEO of Champagne Louis Roederer said the investment was an expression of the desire to “constantly innovate and encourage innovation”.

“In the vineyard, in the cellar, and in every aspect of our activity, we are in perpetual motion, attentive to the times and practices that are in constant evolution. For us, Winechain is a means of pursuing this approach and of going even further in terms of proximity and dialogue with wine enthusiasts,” he said.

Max Mersch of FABRIC Ventures explained that the increased traceability, transparency and accessibility would open up the wine world to a new generation of wine enthusiasts.

“The wine enthusiast market is expanding at a pace that is rapidly outgrowing supply, and yet wineries are still looking to find ways to connect directly with their end consumers instead of the multiple logistics middlemen currently in place,” he said. “By creating NFTs for each case of wine straight at the source, wineries will have a transparent data-driven view of their customers, will be able to store the wines in perfect conditions while the wine is being traded and will be able to benefit from royalty fees on the entire secondary market.”

#winechain #NFTs #finewine #technology #nftcommunity #nftspace #nftwine #nft #wineinvestor #winecollector #nftplatform #wine #winenews #winelovers #winetrends #winetech