Wine Business Flashcards
(12 cards)
Top 5 US Distributors
- Southern (43 states)
- RNDC (37)
- Breakthru (16)
- Johnson Brothers Liquor Co (22)
- Winebow (18)
Dominance of Southern & RNDC
Southern
- distros Antinori portfolio, Freixenet
RTD will grow 6-8% as other categories decline
Total US Market Wine Volume
377 million cases (2023) - current volumesa re similar to 2011, 2012 levels
total wine market volume declined by 9%
Wine sales peakd in 2020 at almost 450 million cases, and have since been in a decline
wine & bev sales tend to peak in Q4 (for holidays)
RTD category outperforms total bev alcohol market - engages new consumers and brings others back to wine. Also flavored wines (though starting with a small base!).
Competition is fierce!
some trends - decision to premium-ize helped margins, but may have pushed younger consumers away looking for more affordable drinks
Champagne bottles sold in 2023
2024?
2022 - was highest sales on record! 325m
2023 - second highest yield in a decade
2023: 298.7 (just under 300m) – decreased by 27m from 2022
2024: dropped another 30m bottles to 271 million
prices increased by 10% as price of grapes went up 10%
interest rates went up from less than 1% to 3.5-4% in 2023, big cost as Champagne Lanson finances their stocks
French Supermarket sales of Champagne are trending down - 35m to 27.4m
43% of Champagne sold in France, 57% exported
US is largest export market as far as volume AND value
NV is competing with Prosecco, Cava, Cremant and Sekt - NV champagne prices are increasing as Champagne fruit cost increasing; whereas Cava is increasing quality, prices are holding
UAE - population of 11M people, 90% expatriates
2020 - alcohol decriminalized
30% tax on alcohol scrapped in 2023
dropped the license fee to buy alcohol
Influence of large producers in a market
Nicholas Feuillatte - 40% Champagne sales in France’s retail sector. Discontinued “Brut Selection” in 2023, launched the more premium Grande Reserve (15-20% increase in price). Resulted in 25% sales volumes.
Veuve Clicquot Annual Volume
estaimated to be 1.5 million cases according to Decanter while official numbers are not published ~18M bottles
Veuve does not follow traditional luxury rules
LVMH acquired Veuve in 1987
$70 yellow label
White Zin popularity
In 1993, 1 in 4 bottles of wine sold was White Zin
“quintessential Baby Boomer wine” inexpensive, easy to drink
little evidence Zin drinkers traded up
Trinchero still sells 4.5 million cases a year, and the category is a $800m annual business; Sutter Home and Beringer the biggest players
Belaire Bleu
Gucci Mane, Rick Ross, Luc Belaire
suggested for cocktails - similar color to Hypnotiq
30 g/L
traditional bottling - including 1898 “product of france” but electric blue
glass is
$32!!!!!
clear bottle, beverage color matches
“blue raspberry” an artificial flavor
original blue wine – Gik Blue
if more turquoise, its because the base wine is more golden in color before the blue flavoring is added in
blue digs – Indigo extracts + anthocyanins
Artificial food coloring: Brilliant Blue FCF
History of invention of the name “Saten”
The story and meaning behind the name Satèn
The name Satèn came about as a result of a problem, and as often happens when creativity is required to overcome an obstacle, the result is surprisingly good. In 1990 a group of Franciacorta wine cellars enlisted the help of the SGA agency, a company founded in Bergamo by Giacomo Bersanetti, Chiara Veronelli and Francesco Voltolina, well-renowned as communication experts within the world of wine. The very same agency that Terre d’Aenòr turned to for the creation and development of its own brand.
The task given to the agency was to find a suggestive, easily memorable name with a particularly pleasing sound. It was important to express simplicity, pleasant sensorial memories, purity and at the same time bring to mind the word “seta” (silk). The meaning of the name Satèn recalls the silkiness and softness of the finest fabrics. The smart Franciacorta intuition here works at a phonetic level. The name Satèn maintains the musical flow of the french word satin and is also pronounced the same. The search was for a universal name and in fact the name Satèn resembles the italian word “satinato” (which means smooth, soft and pleasing to the touch) or indeed “satinella”, a word frequently used in the 50s and 60s to indicate a light billowing fabric, similar to chiffon.
In 1995 the name Satèn was officially registered by the Consorzio Franciacorta, in order to protect this specific type of Franciacorta sparkling wine by ensuring rigid production regulations are followed.
Chandon History
Chandon is a community of wineries. There are six of us across the world. We were founded in 1959 in Argentina, then California in 1973, then Brazil, Australia, India and China.
Current winemaker: Pauline Lhote
Domaine Chandon Aluminum Rosé - in an aluminum bottle vs can. so that it can be sold where glass bottles can’t be sold (like music festivals) single serving screwtop – focused on on-premise
187ml
Chandon “Sweet Star” - 32 g/L
To bolster biodiversity, CHANDON has planted 8.9 hectares (around 21.99 acres) of green hedge throughout its vineyards, installed owl, bat and blue jay boxes to attract beneficial predators, established bee boxes to facilitate the pollination of wild flora, and planted oak trees throughout.
10% emissions reduction by developing lightweight glass for sparkling wine from 900g to 835g per bottle,
use Innovint
completely paperless mobile wine production work flow – $75k annual cost savings as it eliminated a data entry role which was previously FT role
- can catch errors in real time
45 employees
Chandon Garden Spritz / Chandon Aperitif
Argentina Sparkling History
1902- first commercial sparkling wines bottled
(Germans in Mendoza)
Trapiche gets its start around this time
1959 - Chandon establishes first French sparkling winery outside of Champagne
2003 - Mumm
Today: annual production of 42.5M Liters, 133 sparkling houses
Argentina
- domestic sparkling consumption dropped 25% last year (whereas the overall market dropped only 1.2% - the drop in sparkling accounted for almost the entire drop.
** previously, Argentina sparkling mostly stayed w/in country
** mostly made in Charmat method
White consumption increased in volume by 13%
whereas red & rosé slightly declined
White blends are now 66% of market share
LVMH
Wine & Spirits is 7% of their business
WINE & Spirit business - 34% is US, 27% Europe, 24% Asia
focus on champagne, cognac and Provence rosé through challenging market (acquisition of Ch Minuty)
LVMH has 22% of market share in Champagne appellation
LVMH takes minority stake in French Bloom ~30% stake
Veuve Clicquot - Sun Club outdoor popup - relaunch of Rich cuvée; “Bold” support women entrepreneurs program
. In 2024, Moët
Hennessy continued to pursue the environmental certification of its vineyards, which includes criteria to
reduce the volume of chemicals used: 96% of vineyards
obtained certification, including Chandon China’s
78-hectare vineyard in 2024, which earned both
Chinese and European organic certification
Moet & Chandon = partnership with Formula 1
