Press

Bordeaux opens up the horizons of great international wines

California, Tuscany, Argentina, Australia… More and more of the world’s great wines are using the expertise of the Bordeaux marketplace to boost their global marketing. The campaign of new releases, which is currently in full swing, confirms this strong trend.

Every year in spring, the Primeurs campaign is the traditional meeting point during which the “Place de Bordeaux” (bringing together all the wine merchants and brokers who have historically shaped the strength of the Bordeaux wine trade) shows its know-how when it comes to promoting the great wines of Gironde to the four corners of the planet. In recent years, a new highlight has been emerging, this time in September – and it is currently in full swing. This is the marketing campaign for the great foreign wines that unveil their “deliverable” vintage to wine lovers around the world via the Bordeaux trade. This is an underlying trend that began a few years ago when a few prestigious brands (Californian stars or “super Tuscans”) got their foot in the door, but which has seen an impressive acceleration over the last two years. More and more great international wineries, from both hemispheres, want to benefit from this extraordinary launching pad that is the Place de Bordeaux; and more and more wine merchants want to join the party.

“A real meeting”

A few days ago, Australian wine giant Penfolds announced the launch of the 2018 vintage of its Bin 169 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon on the Bordeaux marketplace, “joining the ranks of French, Italian and Californian wine icons”. “By using this distribution method, Bin 169 will have access to a wider range of wine lovers and collectors around the world,” explained Penfolds’ managing director Tom King at the time, even listing the six trading houses authorised to distribute his wine, including the giants CVBG, Duclot and Joanne. The latter are not new to the exercise, like Duclot, which has built up a collection of “great iconic wines” from around the world. As for Joanne, it has gone even further by creating, at the beginning of 2021, a branch entirely dedicated to great foreign wines and “outside Bordeaux”, Joanne Rare Wines. Its general manager, Jean-Quentin Prats, explains: “until recently, these marketing sequences for foreign wines were one-offs, but now they are a real event; for the past two years, we can really talk about a campaign, which looks more and more like the Primeurs, but is well established and adapted to world wines”. Since the beginning of September and for about three weeks, it is a real commercial campaign that is being put in place by the Bordeaux merchants and distributors, with a portfolio that is constantly growing. “This year alone, a dozen new wines have been introduced to the market”, explains Jean-Quentin Prats. To accompany this increase in popularity, Joanne Rare Wines has organised two professional events: a tasting in July for journalists (see below), and, at the end of August, another session for the company’s clients, to help them discover the portfolio of great wines from around the world before they are released.

Win-win

By relying on the expertise of the Bordeaux marketplace, these large international estates, whether Italian, Californian, Australian or other, open up new commercial horizons. “These estates come first of all to find a distribution network,” continues Jean-Quentin Prats, “since the Bordeaux trade has the capacity to reach all the markets of the planet, but with a multitude of distributors. In 2020, Joanne had a thousand active customers worldwide, including 300 in mainland China. If we put all the houses of the Bordeaux marketplace together, this opens up a range of more than 10,000 professional distributors in the world for a wine that arrives on the marketplace. For the Place de Bordeaux, opening its doors to these prestigious international brands is first of all a way of consolidating its status as a “place of reference” for great wines from all over the world (not only from the Gironde), by constantly improving its quality of service and its relationship with its customers. It is also an invaluable way of diversifying. But isn’t this opening the way to formidable competition for the great Bordeaux wines, within their own fiefdom? “It’s the opposite that’s happening,” moderates Jean-Quentin Prats. “Previously, our clients ‘looked elsewhere’ at certain times, because of the activity of other vineyards. For example, the Brunello di Montalcino wines are released in January… Now customers come to us all year round. This also gives us access to specialised distributors in different regions of the world, and therefore enables us to reach new wine lovers. And these potentially become new customers for Bordeaux wines. It’s a win-win model, in a way.

” The Place to Be “

To date, Joanne Rare Wines has about sixty labels, with Napa Valley and Tuscany being the main ones. But other regions are gaining ground: Chile, Argentina, Australia (see above), Piedmont for Italy… This year, the first Spanish wine has made its entry: Yjar, a grand rioja from Telmo Rodriguez. So did a Pinot Noir from Oregon, Domaine Beaux-Frères, and a Brunello di Montalcino, Poggio Antico. Other major French regions are also represented, such as the Rhone Valley with Beaucastel, and most recently Champagne with Philipponnat’s famous Clos des Goisses 2012, the first champagne to be marketed via the Place de Bordeaux. Beyond the numerical targets, Joanne Rare Wines’ ambition is “to become a reference company, to provide our customers with exceptional estates from all regions of the world”, emphasises Jean-Quentin Prats. With the launch of historic brands such as Opus One, Masseto, Almaviva and Solaia, the last few days have confirmed that Bordeaux is indeed “The Place to Be” for the world’s great wines.

Source : Terre de Vins Publication

Date : 14 SEPTEMBER 2021

Link site :https://www.terredevins.com/actualites/bordeaux-ouvre-les-horizons-des-grands-vins-internationaux