Category: News

Madame Pommery to be honoured for International Women’s Day [March 8, 2022]

Champagne Pommery will be celebrating and recognizing the achievements of Madame Pommery for International Women’s Day on March 8, 2022.

Madame Pommery, one of the great widows who marked the history of Champagne in the 1800’s, played an essential role in the development of modern Champagne as we know it.

This year, focusing on gender bias, stereotypes and discrimination – challenges women have been fighting for many years, the house will recognize Madame Pommery as a woman who had great confidence in her decision making and used her success to help others – especially other women and workers.

Madame Louise Pommery took over her husband’s Champagne business in 1858 when she was widowed and left with an infant child. Madame Pomery wasn’t just a businesswoman but also an innovator – she came up with the invention of “brut” Champagne. At that time dosage was added to champagne which was varied and unregulated resulting in sweet wines; she wanted something more elegant and fresh. Madame Pomery also popularized the use of caves for aging Champagne and is credited with pioneering wine tourism.

It is interesting to note that Madame Pommery was the first woman in France to receive a state funeral, and was a key figure who valued difference and inclusivity.

@champagnepommery #Pommery #Bluevibrations #champagnepommery #pommery #champagne #champagnelovers #DomainePommery #caves #madamepommery #womensday #internationalwomensday #IWD #internationanlwomensday2022 #womeninwine #womeninwinebusiness #womeninbusiness

Cult Wines Americas – The Future of Fine Wine Investment [Part 1]

The “Silver Linings” are real when it comes to fine wine. Despite 2021 being an unprecedented year due to COVID lockdowns, volatile markets, and Brexit challenges, it has been a record-breaking year for fine wine investment.

Both Champagne and Burgundy have an excellent final quarter, with Champagne gaining 22.98%, according to the Liv-ex Champagne 50 index, and the Burgundy 150 posted a 11.19% quarterly gain in advance of the upcoming 2020 vintage en primeur releases. The fine wine market certainly shows encouraging signs that a brighter future is ahead.

According to the Liv-ex Bordeaux 500 Index, over the last 18 months, there has been a resurgence of interest not only from those who have been building their wine portfolios over the longer term but also from new investors.

There are some big investors looking into this alternative-asset class including Warren Buffett himself, so I thought it would be a good idea to investigate further. Cult Wines Investment came on top of my searches.

About Cult Wines Investment
Founders Tom and Phil Gearing launched the Cult Wines platform in London during 2007 with the idea to revolutionize the way fine wine investment works and make the asset class more accessible. Not only is Cult Wine Investment the global leader in fine wine collection and investment management, but they are also on a mission to make investing in wine as enjoyable and rewarding as the wine itself.  The leadership team have a deep-rooted passion for fine vintages, and close relationships with prestigious and respected growers, as well as market-leading investment expertise.

Enters “Cult Wines” Americas
Cult Wines enters the North American market in 2021 with headquarters in New York and Toronto, as one of the first wine investment platforms with a special focus on US and Canadian investors.

“The US is a big player in the auction and collectors’ market but historically has been underserved in the wine investment market,” describes Tom Gearing, the CEO and co-founder of Cult Wines.

“Historically, the wine investment category has been perceived as only for the wealthy, or those with considerable wine knowledge. We know that is not the case and are enabling more people to invest effectively while maintaining the client service, impeccable standards, and returns for which we are known,” said Atul Tiwari, CEO Cult Wines Americas.

Cult Wine Investments website: www.wineinvestment.com

Here is a list of the Americas leadership team and either wines they have really enjoyed or regions they love.

Tom Gearing, Global CEO

Tom Gearing oversees the company’s overall strategy, global operations, and technology innovation. Tom has grown this start-up to an award-winning global company with $390 million assets under management (AUM) and 80+ employees in six offices including: United Kingdom, North America, and Asia Pacific.

Tom has been regularly quoted in the New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and Forbes. As well as being the recipient of numerous awards, he has received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade and the Spear’s 500. He also holds a WSET Level 3.

Tom’s Favorite Wines:

Tom enjoys chardonnay and pinot noir, and at the same time, he likes to try as many different styles and grape varieties as possible. His most memorable vinous experiences to date are Petrus ’61 en Magnum, Liger Belair La Romanee ’09 and Domaine Leroy, Richebourg ’03.

Atul Tiwari, CEO, Americas

Atul Tiwari leads the team and is responsible for the overall strategy and development of Cult Wines Americas. Hailed by Investment Executive as ‘having a knack for knowing what’s next.’

As former CEO of Vanguard Canada, Atul and his team helped pioneer ETF investing in Canada and grew the company to $30 billion in assets over 7.5 years. Prior to Vanguard, he was the founding President of BMO Exchange Traded Funds. In 2018 he received the Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce award for Corporate Executive of the Year and has twice been named to Wealth Professional’s annual list of People to Watch in the industry. Atul is a member of the Independent Review Committee for Mackenzie Funds, a Director of the D.D. Foundation, Atul is also a member of the Advisory Council for the CFA Society of Toronto and an Honorary Trustee of the Royal Ontario Museum.

Atul has previously managed a 4,000-bottle cellar of Bourgogne for Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (Toronto). It’s interesting to note that he also has a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and has practiced in both London (UK) and Toronto before transitioning to finance.

Atul’s Favorite Wines:

Atul has a passion and is very knowledgeable on Bourgogne, in addition he enjoys Bordeaux and Italian wines.

Carrie Tuck, CMO, Americas

Carrie has spent nearly two decades working in public relations and marketing for multimillion-dollar brands and start-ups within the financial services industry.

Prior to joining Cult Wines Americas as Chief Marketing Officer, Carrie was the Head of Marketing for Vanguard, Canada and was instrumental in building the brand in the region. Throughout her career, Carrie has held various senior positions at asset management and fund companies, where she ran marketing, product and client service. Carrie also holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Concordia University.

Favorite Wines:

Carrie likes to experiment with wine, so she seizes opportunities to try new wines whenever she can.

 

Jonathan Stevenson, EVP, Americas

Jonathan brings over ten years and extensive experience in the alternative investment sector of fine wine to his role of Executive Vice President at Cult Wines. In 2021, he was appointed to oversee Cult Wines’ global expansion into the Americas and is responsible for growing the client base.

Previously, Jonathan was the Sales Manager for the UK sales team. He began his career at Cult Wines as a Portfolio Manager after graduating from Newcastle University (UK) with a degree in Marketing and Management.

 

Favorite Wine:
Vega Sicilia Unico

– Up Next –

Cult Wines Americas – The Future of Fine Wine Investment [Part 2]

I will explore and do a deeper dive into this growing alternative-asset class, and explore Cult Wine’s new investment platform how it makes investing in fine wine more accessible!

#wine #finewine #wineinvestment #alternativeinvestment #winenews #winelovers #winecollectors #champagne #bordeaux #burgundy #finewinelovers #wineindustry #winebusiness #winetrade #winetrends #vin #frenchwine #winemarket #winenews #wineeconomics #vintagewine #wineinvestors #cultwines #cultwinesamericas #cultwinesUSA #cultwinescanada #cultcru #bourgogne #mycultcollection #winewednesday

 

Disclaimer

Past performance is not indicative of future success; the performance was calculated in GBP and will vary in other currencies. Any investment involves risk of partial or full loss of capital. The Cult Wines Index is a hypothetical tool. The results depicted here are not based on actual trading and do not account for the annual management fees that may be charged to a Cult Wines customer which ranges from 2.95% to 2.25% depending on the size of the portfolio, and there is no guarantee of similar performance with an investor’s particular portfolio.

SVB Wine Report: The US wine industry sees some challenges in 2022

According to the latest Silicon Valley Bank Wine Report shows that although 2021 proved to be a good year for the US wine industry, several serious challenges signal uncertain times ahead.

The report points out that underlying trends remained a big concern, with the most serious being that younger consumers are not getting interesting in wine, and wine is losing market share to spirits, craft beer, RTDs and other alcoholic drinks.

“This issue has yet to be addressed or solved, and the negative consequences are increasingly evident,” Rob McMillan, EVP and Founder, Premium Wine Division warned in the report. “Wine as a product has lost the lustre it once had with the consumer 20 years ago and is probably entering a phase of negative volume growth.”

“By 2025, 27.9 million Americans will cross normal retirement age at 66, while 30.3 million will cross age 40.5. That will be too many consumers leaving their best buying years, and too many consumers entering their best buying years, to ignore,” McMillan states.

The report also points out out the homogeny and lack of transparency of many entry level wines that was failing to appeal to younger, more health-conscious potential wine drinkers, who wanted to drink less but better, while the high price of more premium offering was another deterrent.

“Premium wine producers haven’t figured out how to produce their wine for an entry-level consumer. Without an on-ramp, it’s going to be hard to grow the wine category,” McMillan further states.

Declining volume sales

Across the on and off-trade, data from SipSource shows that growth in wine compared to spirits stalled at the onset of 2021, having both shown comparable volume growth during 2020. As the report showed, when businesses reopened in January 2021, that comparable trend took a dramatic turn and while spirits finished the year in 6.1% growth, wine was down -8.9%.

Although the report highlighted a number of tailwinds, it criticized the “lack of leadership within the wine industry to counter these obvious trends and cooperate to form a marketing organization to promote the wine category”.

This points to the potential decline of restaurants as an important channel for the wine industry in the US, the report also warned.

“The restaurant industry will likely continue to decline in its importance to the wine industry as a viable sales channel due to overpricing on the menu and consumers who value other alcoholic beverages over wine,” the report said. “Restaurants may find that wine is not in demand at the prices charged and that the cost to maintain deep stocks of wine is becoming senseless.”

There was evidence that the amount of wine sold through the wholesale channel fell throughout the year despite tasting rooms, restaurants, hotels and travel resuming business. This indicates that as restaurants reopened, wine inventories are being streamlined into smaller wine lists.

“The investment in long wine lists might be limited going forward,” McMillan said.

Other highlights:

• Consumer behaviour has irrevocably changed as a result of the pandemic – the switch to homeworking is set to stay, and the move to online purchasing is also set to remain.
• Premiumization has continue to accelerate, however the higher price points are being offset by lower total volumes.
• The industry needs to invest to accelerate, looking at online and ecommerce driven by data, rather than focusing on more traditional channels, such as the cellar door.
• A key warning came around anti-alcohol messaging, which it said continued to grow while guidelines from a variety of government and health organizations “loosely apply science to influence consumption and taxes”. However the greater threat was a push to place “additional and more dire cancer warnings on wine”. “The industry can’t allow that to become a reality.”

#wine #winetrade #winenews #wineeconomics #wineindustry #winelovers #SiliconValleyBank
#USwinemarket #SipSource #instawine #vin #instawine

Save the Dates: 2022 Wine Days to Celebrate!

To help you plan for 2022, here is list of some of the biggest wine days out there – in chronological order.

This list is comprised of important national or international wine days, with relevant hashtags, is a great starting point to assist you in planning fun and engaging posts. If I missed any dates, or if there are any new dates to be added, please let me know.

Happy Wine Tasting!

Liz Palmer

February

February 1, 2022 – International Furmint Day – #furmintday
February 16, 2022 – International Syrah Day – #syrahday
February 18, 2022 – Global Drink Wine Day – #drinkwineday
February 26, 2022 – Open That Bottle Night – #openthatbottlenight

March

March 3, 2022 – Mulled Wine Day – #mulledwineday
March 13, 2022 – International Riesling Day – #rieslingday

April

April 14, 2022 – Tannat Day – #tannatday
April 17, 2022 – World Malbec Day – #malbecday
April 23, 2022 – International Cava Day – #cavaday
April 27, 2022 – World Marselan Day – #worldmarselanday
April 29, 2022 – International Viognier Day – #internationalviognierday

May

May 6, 2022 – International Sauvignon Blanc Day – #sauvignonblancday
May 9, 2022 – World Moscato Day – #worldmoscatoday
May 17, 2022 – Pinot Grigio Day – #pinotgrigioday
May 25, 2022 – National Wine Day – #nationalwineday
May 26, 2022 – International Chardonnay Day – #internationalchardonnayday

June

June 10, 2022 – World Verdejo Day – #worldverdejoday
June 11, 2022 – National Rosé Day – #nationalroseday
June 18, 2022 – Drink Chenin Blanc Day – #drinkcheninblancday
June 20, 2022 – International Chenin Blanc Day -#internationaldrinkcheninblancday
June 21, 2022 – World Lambrusco Day – #worldlambruscoday

July

July 22, 2022 – Shiraz Day #shirazday
July 25, 2022 – National Wine & Cheese Day – #wine&cheeseday

August

August 1, 2022 – International Albarino Day – #albarinoday
August 4, 2022 – National White Wine Day – #nationalwhitewineday
August 13, 2022 – International Prosecco Day – #proseccoday
August 18, 2022 – International Pinot Noir Day – #pinotnoirday
August 28, 2022 – National Red Wine Day – #redwineday
August 30, 2022 – International Cabernet Day – #cabernetday

September

September 1, 2022 – International Cap Classique Day – #capclassiqueday
September 1, 2022 – International Cabernet Day – #cabernetsauvignonday

September 2, 2022 – National Chianti Day – #chiantiday
September 10, 2022 – International Port Wine Day – #internationalportday
September 16, 2022 – International Grenache Day #grenacheday

October

October 5, 2022 – World Vranec Day – #worldvranecday
October 6, 2022 – National Orange Wine Day – #nationalorangewineday
October 8, 2022 – International Pinotage Day – #pinotageday
October 14, 2022 – Prokupac Day – #prokupacday
October 26, 2022 – International Mavrud Day – #mavrudday
October 27, 2022 – International Carignan Day – #carignanday
October 28 – World Champagne Day – #champagneday

November

November 1, 2022 – International Xinomavro Day – #internationalxinomavroday
November 7, 2022 – International Merlot Day – #internationalmerlotday
November 10, 2022 – International Tempranillo Day -#internationaltempranilloday
November 12, 2022 – Wine Tourism Day – #winetourismday
November 16, 2022 – National Zinfandel Day – #zinfandelday
November 17, 2022 – Beaujolais Nouveau Day – #beaujolaisnouveauday
November 24, 2022 – International Carmenere Day – #carménèreday

December

December 1, 2022 – International Maratheftiko Day – #maratheftikoday
December 4, 2022 – International Cabernet Franc Day – #cabernetfrancday
December 10, 2022 – World Aszú Day – #worldazsuday
December 16, 2022 – Pinot Meunier Day – #meunierday

#winedays #2022winedays #winecalendar #winelovers
#wine #winetasting #redwine #whitewine #rosewine #instawine #winetime
#winenews #internationalwineday #nationalwineday #cheers #winestagram
#winetourism #winemarketing #digitalmarketing #vin #vinho #vino

Champagne News: Total shipments of Champagne in 2021 rose to 322 million bottles, an increase of 32% over 2020

The Champagne region and houses are celebrating after sales and exports set new records last year even as pandemic lockdowns forced many bars and restaurants to close.

Comité Champagne, a trade association representing over 16,000 winegrowers and 320 Champagne houses, said this week that France exported a record 180 million bottles of Champagne in 2021, an increase of 38% over 2020.

Global sales of Champagne also hit a record €5.5 billion (US$6.2 billion).

Comité Champagne said that total shipments rose 32% over the previous year to 322 million bottles as people found reasons to celebrate at home.

“With tourism and the staging of events still reduced due to the health crisis, there is room to believe that home consumption has taken up the slack,” the trade group said in a statement.

“Consumers have chosen to entertain themselves at home, compensating for the generally gloomy mood with new moments of conviviality and sharing,” they also added.

Detailed export data has not yet been released, but in 2020, the United Kingdom and the United States were the top foreign markets for champagne.

Champagne drinking popped back up to its pre-pandemic levels last year in France, with shipments increasing 25% to reach nearly 142 million bottles.

‘This recovery is a welcome surprise for the people of Champagne after a troubled 2020 (with figures down by 18%) impacted by the closure of main points of consumption and the shortage of celebratory events across the world,’ comments Maxime Toubart, president of the Syndicat général des vignerons and co-president of the Comité Champagne. He is otherwise pleased to note ‘the healthy state of the national market’.

Jean-Marie Barillère, president of the Union des Maisons de Champagne and co-president of the Comité Champagne, is delighted that ‘thanks to exports and the consumer’s devotion to fine cuvees, Champagne will reach a record turnover of more than 5.5 billion Euros*’. But he stresses ‘the average shipments in 2020-2021, at 280 million bottles and 4.9 billion Euros, remain under the pre-pandemic levels (300 million bottles, 5 billion Euros in 2019)’.
Afflicted by the health crisis in 2020 and challenging climatic conditions in 2021, Champagne now hopes that 2022 will open the way to a new cycle of growth.

#champagne #champagnelovers #champagneeconomics #champagneregion #comitechampagne
#cheers #wine #winelovers #celebrate #winenews #wineexports #reims #epernay #aube