Hello, this is my first number of this monthly column about the wine news. I hope you appreciate it.
There’s another news, because now I’ve been editing a podcast (in English language) dedicated to wine and digital technology, other than people and stories of wine. It calls Digital and Wine, I have been studying English to getting better my pronunciation. There’re 2 episode + the pilot. Here the link for Spotify but you can listen it also on iTunes, Google Podcast and all other app for podcast.
So, subscribe to my podcast and let me know your critics or appreciation to info[at]thedigitalwine.com. Thank you.
Now, let me say a thing about the dark time we’re looking at here in Europe.
It’s a strange feeling to talk about a cheerful topic like wine while people in Ukraina are afraid for their own life, in the present and in the future, and I cannot do anything for help them.
I’ve no hope that war goes to the end in a short time, because Putin is actually a criminal, a fool criminal. It’s since Cecenia, and then Crimea, Georgia, East Ukraina, all of us knew he wanted expand its power. Murders as Anna Politovskaja in 2006 would have taught us who Putin is. And hundreds of other people in jail, last known Alexei Navalny.
I don’t know why we didn’t learn, I’m no an expert with international politics, I’m only a man that, like all men and women all in the world, want stay in peace working, playing, loving. Basic things that now Ukrainian people like many other in the world, cannot do. I don’t know how those families are feeling, now, in this moment.
As a Human Being I had to write this few rows, at least. Where’ve all the flowers gone?
Thank you for your attention.
Fast News
Beverfood: Winelivery opens its first pop shop in Milan, Italy
As they said the last year, now Winelivery, the well known app for ordering wine and spirits with 30’ delivery service, has been getting the app into a brick&mortar shop. You have to order and pay with app drinking at the table.
DrinksRetailing: The NoLo Alchool drinks
A short interview with Christine Parkinson from Brimful Drinks to start to understand this phenomenon
Harpers: Packaging and Connections
Delivery track improving and enhanced control systems to fight counterfeits: bluetooth connected packages have been coming. It’s one of many innovations that digital technology allows for wine market, getting better and faster the track&trace systems for cases and containers.
Vine Pair: No-Low Alchool rated $10 B
In the post there’re the IWSR’s data (International Wine&Spirits Record) about commerce of Np-Lo Alchool drinks, wines, beers. The RTD sector (Ready To Drink) is the higher one with beer and cider, nearly 75% of the market.
Natalie McLean blog: Old wines and Italian wines diversity
Natalie McLean interviews Robert Camuto, Wine Spectator journalist, about Italian wines and their huge soil diversity, especially the volcanic ones.
The Drink Business: To becoming substainable, in California they will remove some vineyard
California's intensive farming clashes with the issue of sustainability, which actually means coping with the state's chronic water shortages and long periods of drought. Californian wineries have to solve a problem of environmental impact, because drought and fires are forcing producers to revise their way to work, also to attract the market of younger people who are more sensitive to worsening environmental conditions, both locally and globally.
Beverfood: The Nomisma Wine Monitor report about wine in supermarkets
Value is growing, volume is decrreasing also in the supermarket’s sales, and they will have to redesign their shelfs.
Vine Pair: How distilleries get ready to welcoming visitors
Planning the return of tourism and visitors, Rich Manning get a view about the preparation of distilleries and what they will should do to welcoming their guests after the last two years. The trick is to offer new experiences, different to the ever same tour, as to create a series of events to get guests coming back more and more times.
The Drink Business: The Cheval Blanc manifest for environment substainability
The famous St.Emillon winery is getting ready to improve its environment impact as well, and they do it with a manifest you can require by email. From water use to transports and biodiversity, these are the points of the Chateau turn on. As the winery directory Pierre-Olivier Clouet says, because climate change also their wines are going to change, is no other change.
Wine Meridian: Hong Kong restriction and wine market
The Zero-Infection Chinese policy risks to get close the boarder of one of the most rich wine market, Hong-Kong, and this is why European wineries are very worried. In a meeting with 13 winery associations, they have been starting to understand if Bejing decisions will keep the doors closed to 2024 or there it will be some glimmer for commerce. Hong Kong is the main delivery point to import wine in China and Macao: the 19% of imported wine take the road for the continent and the rest is drunk in luxury hotels and restaurants.
Deep News
London and Dusseldorf
London Wine Fair and ProWein are the more important wine fair of Europe, with Vinitaly. These two places are ever desired by wineries, they’re international markets calling worldwide buyers. Both fairs will have a digital section and a classic one, with tasting and meetings. In 2020 Prowein was cancelled, as all the others ones, and the same in 2021; in 2022 it was scheduled to end of march. London Wine Fair was cancelled in 2020 and in 2021 was only digital. It was scheduled in May 2022.
Schedule back fairs so large is not easy, mainly if it needs to consider all limitation caused by sanity check. The new Omicron Covid-19 variant pushed Prowein to move the event from March 27-29 to May 15-17, with an overlap with London events. The UK organizers were hence forced to move the LWF to June 7-9, and the digital event to June 20-21. Bastian Mingers, Prowein director, simply said to regret for that, but the message of LWF Director Hannah Tovey was harder:
The London Wine Fair said Prowein's decision was an "extremely aggressive" move and "a direct attack" on the Uk wine trade (Drinks International)
The Prowein starting date have always remain the same since 1994, and changing them it seems a deliberate act. In this interview to Cathy Huyghe, Herr Mingers explains why these are the once days possible.
The week before LWF will be the Elizabeth II Jubilee, Her 70 years of kingdom; director Tovey think that this will point the eyes of the world over the United Kingdom, and this can be a good windows for the LWF.
DTC in 2021
The DTC Wine Shipping Report 2022 is online, the annual analysis about Direct To Consumer market, edited by Sovos ShipCompliant and Wines Vines Analytics. You can download the report from this link, and as usual the analysis is built from 1300 interviews to wineries in the USA using DTC as selling channel. We so can discover that there’re some 11,300 wineries and 81% of them produces less than 60,000 bottles/year.
More important data is that in 2021 the direct sales experienced a little grow in volumes and a higher one in price for bottle. In 2020 the direct sale has been increasing, about 30%, with price for bottle relatively low; this is because winegrowers, distributors and restaurants simply did need cash. This moved great volumes of wine in the sales channels, many times with hard discounts, ended in 2021. Last year we saw also the growing of the number of customers bought wines by winery direct sale; this means that they, learned how is easy, have been continuing to use this channel. To understand if this is a long trend or not, we have to wait 2022 data. A synthesis of the report can be read also on WineIndustry Advisor.
Of course, thanks to vaccine people feel more safe, many activities are opening back and winery tour, dinner out and going to wine shop are words we luckily can again say, as until 2019.
The average price is 41$, increased 11,8% respect 2020, and the total value of DTC is up to $4.2 B. In 2021 the volume has had the lower increase since 2012, considering that DTC selling bottles in 2020 grew up to 27%.