I see from the Decanter newsfeed (‘click’ Decanter News at the top right of this diary page) that the Wine Report of, or rather edited by, Tom Stevenson may be no more. If Dorling Kindersley, that stalwart of (popular) wine publishing is giving up, I find it hard to see how WR may be resurrected. From the comments of TomS:
‘Everybody in the trade who has ever seen Wine Report wants the next edition as soon as it’s published’
– maybe they should try and get the trade to cough up the bulk of the publishing costs if they need a sustainable business model. It was certainly a curious concept in that all wine-producing regions got the same coverage, whether Belgium or Bordeaux – perhaps it was best suited to the trade. Shame, and they were such nice people 😉
Am I the only person in the world that’s totally bemused by this… er… er… tawdry ‘news item’… ‘thing’…(?)
[Tell me if you can help with a more appropriate adjective…]
“All of us at Matchbet are absolutely delighted to be working with Liv-ex, whose indices are the authoritative source of information about the state of the fine wine market. We believe that Liv-ex’s users will benefit from an ability to both hedge, and speculate, on Liv-ex’s price indices. The market has just been launched, but already there are significant betting opportunities. I believe that the market will quickly develop into a major companion site to Liv-ex for all those seriously interested in the wine industry.”
Comparing the first half of 2008 with the same period this year, we can at least deduce that people are not drowning their economic worries in Hennessy, Krug, Moët or Yquem. Apparently LVMH say that their profits increased “tangibly” in the markets where they control their own distribution, such as ‘owned’ shops like Louis Vuitton:
“The brands distributed by third parties, on the other hand, suffered a massive destocking impact by these (external) distributors. This is notably the case for the Wines & Spirits and Watches & Jewelry business groups.”
Interesting; so that means that non LVMH companies are tightening their belts in what some would describe as prudent management but LVMH companies are not. Does that mean that in the opinion of LVMH, punters are having to queue for Moët because retailer’s inventory is too low?
Currently it’s a storm in a teacup; if there are eventually to be vast lakes of Beaujolais sourced Bourgogne Blanc, it will still have to fight with vast lakes of the ‘Real McCoy’ at the supermarket price-points – though perhaps the Beajolais have more experience in the sub €2 per litre positions…
The average producer who tries to make a good product should have no fear – it’s not possible to make a good product at the wholesale prices for bulk business – their clientelle are a different clientelle and are unlikely to be diverted. Only bulk farmers might be outraged – but then no-one reading this page will anyway feel much connection to them.
Clos des Langres - reaching for the sky...
Back from a sticky 35°C in the Côtes.
In the Vines
Vine-growth is very speedy at the moment; all the vineyards are looking like they need their first ‘hair-cut’ as the vines start reaching for the sky. The earliest flowering started on Wednesday last week, but more than 95% of the vines have yet to start.
The heat of the last couple of days will start flowering in earnest over the next; this relatively early flowering sees producers already beginning to ‘pencil-in’ 10th September as a potential starting date for the harvest – that’s another early one – but let’s see how warm the summer is first!
The heat coupled to flowering will have growers up and down the Côtes scanning the skies and their trusty(?) weather forecasts. There are almost daily storms at the moment, though fortunately not all as bad as the one that hit a piece of Morey last week; not only was the 1er cru Caffots badly hit, but parts of next-door Monts Luisants too. It would have been much worse if the flowers were already open – yesterday a Morey producer wore a semi-resigned look as he quipped “ah – that just means that the hail has already done the green harvest for me…” The growers clearly hope for a dry 10-14 days during flowering as heavy rain without hail can still make for very uneven setting of the fruit, so far, the weather doesn’t look like it will be all that ‘supportive’.
In the Market – Maison Nicolas Potel & Terres d’Aromes
Berry Bros and Rudd first announced ‘the story‘, though I waited until I’d visited before typing anything; yesterday I visited Maison Nicolas Potel.
I won’t add any gossip – and there is plenty – but the salient facts are that the management of Cottin Freres and Nicolas Potel decided to go their separate ways in March, effective the end of April. I plan to cover the remaining team’s (current) plans go for continuing the business in the summer issue of the Burgundy Report. Additionally, on Wednesday last week, both Xavier Meney (Nicky’s business manager) and most shockingly, Claire Forestier were (I believe) asked to leave. That Claire had only just launched the inaugural Terres d’Aromes vintage makes the timing surprising. Only conjecture on my part, but perhaps the Cottins came to the conclusion that, with wine sales down about 20%, did they really need two competing labels with a similar business model? That’s not exactly rocket science, as it’s a business approach that could only be supported in a growing market. I hope to catch up with Claire very soon…
An eye-watering offer, though the Meursault 1ers and Corton-Charlemagne are not completely out of sight if the quality is there – and generally in 2007 I think the quality IS there in the whites. To my mind, the majority of the reds are at least 30% overpriced, except (of course) the Bonnes-Mares which deserves special mention as the most overpriced wine of the year – in February I could buy Christophe Roumier’s 2006 in a Beaune tourist shop for that. I wouldn’t want to be a merchant today with these prices.
PREMIERS CRUS BLANCS
MEURSAULT Les Charmes 2007 75cl 85.00
MEURSAULT Les Genevrières 2007 75cl 89.50
MEURSAULT Les Perrières 2007 75cl 95.00
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Perrières 2007 75cl 89.50
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Clos de La Mouchère 2007 37,5cl 47.00
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Clos de La Mouchère 2007 75cl 89.50
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Caillerets 2007 75cl 89.50
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Pucelles 2007 75cl 99.00
PREMIERS CRUS ROUGES
BEAUNE Clos du Roi 2007 75cl 59.50
VOLNAY Les Fremiets 2007 75cl 75.00
VOLNAY Les Caillerets 2007 75cl 79.00
So – what to say? Beaune Clos du Roi 2x the price of the Bouchard Père version. Corton-Charlemagne 25% higher than Bonneau du Martray, Montrachet another 100 francs per bottle even than Louis Jadot’s aspirational 2007 prices. I probably can’t quibble too much with the Meursault Perrières pricing at 95 SFr given that I paid 89 for the stunning Pierre Morey 2006 – but it will have to be amazing. Another list that I’m afraid is (in my humble opinion) disconnected from reality…
I see from the Decanter newsfeed (‘click’ Decanter News at the top right of this diary page) that the Wine Report of, or rather edited by, Tom Stevenson may be no more. If Dorling Kindersley, that stalwart of (popular) wine publishing is giving up, I find it hard to see how WR may be resurrected. From the comments of TomS:
Comparing the first half of 2008 with the same period this year, we can at least deduce that people are not drowning their economic worries in Hennessy, Krug, Moët or Yquem. Apparently LVMH say that their profits increased “tangibly” in the markets where they control their own distribution, such as ‘owned’ shops like Louis Vuitton: 