Jane Anson
You might have read that Pepsi has begun bypassing grocery stores and selling direct to consumers during the Covid-19 outbreak. Apparently the company created and launched two new websites in less than a month in order to respond to the changed consumer landscape in which we all suddenly find ourselves.
The wine world, also, has been moving towards new means of reaching consumers – some faster than others. In Tuscany, Alessia Antinori has said Marchesi Antinori is moving to a greater focus on online sales for both everyday and high-end wines. ‘It’s a way of life – and I think it will be continued,’ she told an industry magazine (whether or not during a Zoom interview they did not say).
Over in Bordeaux, things are moving both fast and slow, as is often the case in this region. On one level things are powering ahead as normal. An en primeur campaign is gathering pace, even with a few large tastings planned in Geneva, New York, London, Paris and other cities – albeit under strict conditions, with allotted times for tasters and careful distancing rules in place.
There are plenty of people who look at this in disbelief, and certainly it seems a strange decision to do this kind of tasting right now, when there are many other workable options in place. But the trick with Bordeaux is to look not so much at what is being said as what is left unsaid. Things take time around here – châteaux took two or three years to understand how useful the Coravin wine preserver could be, but now they can’t live without it.
This en primeur has seen young wines being sent out not just to those of us who live in Bordeaux, but to critics and buyers around the world. Half-bottles as samples have suddenly come into their own. Those with exclusive distribution arrangements, such as the Moueix group, were among the first to react right back in April or early May, but even the biggest classified growths have also taken the lead. Lafite Rothschild, DucruBeaucaillou and Cos d’Estournel, who a year ago would only receive tasters with
‘It is possible to envisage a new way of selling Bordeaux’
appointments at the château, have all sent samples and carried out simultaneous Zoom tastings with the owner or technical director. Château d’Issan even sent out small bottles of en primeur closed under argon gas for members of private club 67 Pall Mall to sample during a paid-for tutored tasting – the first time that members of the public had the opportunity to taste classified Margaux in this way, and a clear PR coup for the estate.
Others, such as Figeac, Lafleur and Palmer are choosing not to take the risk of sending their samples at all. They have sound reasons to make that decision, but the reality is that most merchants want to get an understanding of appellation styles and quality before offering these high ticket-price wines to their own customers. That is why they normally take the time to travel to Bordeaux – and this year, those producers who meet them halfway are earning loyalty. Many merchants have said they will only offer wines they have tasted. Others have said they have enjoyed tasting at a slower pace, able to go back and revisit the bigger-framed samples after the tannins have softened in the glass, without having to rush to the next appointment down the road.
There are no rules this year, but it is possible to envisage a new way of selling Bordeaux. We’re not going to see clarity or direction on future strategy just yet, because everything is up in the air right now – but the seeds are being sown, and there is a degree of optimism among some merchants that this can work going forward.
Travelling with full staff and giving three months of your business year over to en primeur is a costly exercise, but it is still one that many people, not least in Bordeaux itself, want to find a way to make work over the long term. If we can cherry-pick the things that worked during this year’s crisis, it might give new impetus to the whole system.
DJane Anson is a Decanter contributing editor, and Louis Roederer International Feature Writer of 2016. Read her ‘Anson on Thursday’ blog on Decanter.com/anson
Château Montlandrie, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux 2016 is a fitting glass to raise – this brilliant property delivers value and succulent fruit year after year. Particularly intense and packed with blackberry and raspberry fruits in the 2016 vintage, just now softening to become perfect to drink.