This is a follow-up to a previous article on brand portfolio strategy in Bordeaux. There, I looked at concepts such as the Grand Vin, the second wine, endorsed brands, and other brand extension strategies. Here, I will look at how those individual building blocks come together to make up the overall brand architecture of a…
Tag: bordeaux
Second wines and beyond: Brand portfolio strategy in Bordeaux wine
Bordeaux wine is a crowded and fiercely competitive market, with around 6,500 individual producers actively making wine today. The fine wine segment consists of the top 300 or so wineries, most of whom are Grands Crus Classés (“classified growths”), having been ranked in one classification or another. With some exceptions, the majority have been making…
Understanding Bordeaux appellations
Bordeaux is a massive wine region, producing a wide variety of wine styles. As such, it’s useful to consider Bordeaux not as one place and one wine style, but at the sub-regional or “appellation” level. Developing a better understanding of individual appellations will help you buy better Bordeaux wines, whether as a professional wine buyer…
How to read (and write) a wine technical sheet
How the wine industry communicates about wine to the consumer is fascinating. Wine companies try to communicate directly or indirectly through their wine labels, winery websites, advertising, social media and various other means. These efforts are sometimes inspiring, quite often funny or frustrating, and occasionally heartbreaking. The wine technical sheet is a key weapon in…
Right bank, right time: A Saint Emilion visitors’ guide
Working in wine in Bordeaux isn’t exactly the most stressful job in the world. There are many tougher lines of work out there, and tougher parts of the world in which to do them. One clear occupational hazard for the humble wine industry professional here, however, is the busman’s holiday, where friends or family come to…
Château Panet: Developing wine tourism in Saint Emilion
Saint Emilion is a significant sub-region on the right bank of Bordeaux. Some of the world’s most famous châteaux are here, producing some of the richest, most luscious red wine in the world. Top-tier properties like Château Cheval Blanc and Château Ausone are nothing short of legendary, and their three- to four-figure price tags put them firmly…
3 Bordeaux wine jobs (that aren’t sommelier or winemaker)
Bordeaux is a dream destination for wine tourists, but what’s it like for wine jobs? Finding a wine job in Bordeaux is equal parts frustrating and exciting, but it’s worth taking some time first to understand the Bordeaux wine jobs market a little. Back in 2015, my job hunt in Bordeaux had a particular focus….
How to find a wine job in Bordeaux
Looking for a wine job in Bordeaux? Good for you. There’s a variety of wine business, hospitality, and technical schools, and each tasks its students with getting out there and finding work. It’s also a pretty city surrounded by some of the world’s best vineyards, so it attracts working wine industry professionals from home and…
Strategic marketing in white Bordeaux wine
Château Fourcas Hosten is one of the leading wine producers in Listrac-Médoc, a small appellation on the left bank of Bordeaux. Some friends and I visited the estate earlier this summer when I was a little surprised to find that they have launched a white Bordeaux wine. The Médoc is firmly red wine country, after…
Marketing Petit Verdot in Bordeaux: Listrac-Médoc
Bordeaux is not the first place I look to for innovation in wine marketing, and Petit Verdot is not exactly my go-to grape variety. The region has strong links to the past, to say the least, and most of its stakeholders have at least some interest in maintaining the status quo. Encountering new product development…