Blame it on the French – Champagne gets our NRL and AFL players drunk
I was amazed to read in the local paper that the sales of French Champagnes went up last year here in Australia. More than 3.5 million bottles were imported in 2008, an increase of 10% on 2007 according to the Comite Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne. No sign of crisis, imports in the UK and US were down 8 and 20 percent.
And where did we see this Champagne go to? Here is my guess: in each Australian pre-season of footie sports such as NRL or AFL, the papers are full of headlines with players getting drunk and starting to harass men and women around them in pubs, nightclubs etc. I know some of these guys and can confirm that they are clearly capable of drinking beer like a horse and still behave pretty normal.
So why do they get drunk at this particular time of the year? According to a friend of mine (a doctor), these players face the tough challenge of having to cope with their normal intake ‘beer’ and the mixing with ‘high profile’ drinks at pre-season opening ceremonies. Mixing beer with Champagne helps you get drunk four times as fast, this is according to my friend the doctor.
And this is where the Champagne comes in: luckily for the French Champagne industry we have these pre-season celebrations: our NRL and AFL players, who aren’t used to drinking bubblies have to obey the rules of politeness and drink a few glasses of these as well as their usual intake of beer, and off they go.
Blame it on the French.
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Die Verkaufszahlen franzoesischer Champagner in Australien sind im letzten Jahr um 10% gestiegen, mit 3.5 Millionen Flaschen wurde so viel wie nie zuvor an diesem Getraenk hier downunder verkauft. Kein Wunder, dass unsere AFL und NRL Helden zu viel davon trinken, sind sie doch eher ein paar Bierchen gewoehnt.
Ihr Michael Brecht
Second biggest Australian wine group posts huge losses in half year results
Just when the wine community here in Australia was absorbing the latest news of the Foster’s Group restructuring its wine operations – the second largest wine producer Australian Vintage published a $128m first half loss last night. Australian Vintage, formerly known as McGuigan Simeon Wines, wrote down $175m in this first half year largely due to inventory write-downs.
Australian Vintage comprises amongst others McGuigan Wines with its name stemming from four generations of the McGuigan family and Miranda wines, which have been a family label for three generations, mainly sourcing their wines in the High Country in South East Australia’s high altitude regions.
High end labels were assorted in Nepenthe from the cool climate Adelaide Hills and Tempus Two as the ‘ultra premium brand’, a marketing term used by Australian Vintage still raising questions in me about how ‘ultra’ and ‘wine’ could make it together in marketing.
Finally we find new brands such as Passion Pop, launched in 2007 to deliver an Aussie Sparkling to Australia’s at that time happy, young and growing wine community. To tell you the truth: from a sales perspective, this is a complex and not really appealing mix, more of an assembled bunch of liquids than a real strategic fit for the sophisticated wine enthusiast.
And Australian Vintage struggles in these unfriendly conditions: first the wine glut, then the drought, the high Australian Dollar and now the global financial crisis leading into recession: this is not an economic climate to write home about.
The main difference to Foster’s is, that Australian Vintage doesn’t have the luxury of offsetting profits from beer or spirits divisions against the losses occurred with its wines. As much as the bad news from Australian Vintage might put a smile on the faces of competitor’s Foster’s management, as much they now should be worried too: the Foster’s Group will keep its wine business in its protfolio for much longer as it will be even harder to sell this asset (or is it a liability?) in the near future – there is no doubt about that.
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Die nach Groesse an zweiter Stelle liegende, boersennotierte Australian Vintage vermeldet in ihrem Halbjahresbericht einen Verlust von umgerechnet 85 Millionen EURO. Im wesentlichen stammen diese Verluste aus den Abschreibungen des Inventars, viele der Weine des Hauses sind einfach in der Form und zu diesen Preisen nicht an den Weintrinker zu bringen.
Ihr Michael Brecht
No news on which Foster’s wine brands will be chopped – yet
Last week’s announcement of Australian bewerage giant to keep the wine business but separate it from its beer and spirits sections was the big news for anybody involved in wine making here down under.
Going seperate ways: Foster's beer and wine
Foster’s announced that they would get rid of 37 brands. Its portfolio includes brands such as Penfolds, Beringer, Lindemans, Wolf Blass, Rosemount, Matua Valley, Wynns Coonawarrra Estate and Castello di Gabbiano. There is huge speculation on where Foster’s will start to chop, it is for sure though, that they will aim to better follow current trends in the Australian wine market: more variety and less heavy Reds. Let’s wait and see.
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Die Foster’s Gruppe laesst sich Zeit: in der vergangenen Woche wurden massive Umbaumassnahmen angekuendigt, allein welche Marken der Konzern zukuenftig aus dem Programm streicht ist noch nicht bekannt. Wir werden sie umgehend informieren, sobald wir Naeheres wissen.
Ihr Michael Brecht
Fosters: restructure, breakup and sell-off to help shareholder value – but is this enough?
Facts first: the Australian beer and wine giant has today announced to retain its wine business. Since evaluating its options with the departure of its former CEO Trevor Hoy last year, the business community was speculating whether or not the wine business could be history in Fosters liquor empire.
Instead of sealing its fate, the Fosters Group today announced major changes to their wine business itself:
- 36 ‘non-core’ vineyards will be sold,
- 37 Fosters owned ‘tail’ brands will be sold or discontinued,
- 3 wineries in Australia and California will either be closed, reconfigured or consolidated, and
- the Group expects to book total asset writedowns and restructuring charges between $330 million and $415 million in the second half of this 2008/09 financial year.
So let us look behind the scenes and explain why they are doing it:
Firstly the decision to keep the wine business was heavily influenced by external factors: “The current difficult conditions in debt and equity markets mean this is not the appropriate time to sell or de-merge Foster’s Wine business,” Fosters Chairman Crawford said today in his address to the media. Point taken, it doesn’t help presenting your wine business to potential buyers in an economic climate like ours today. So the Fosters management didn’t have a real chance and now has to make the best out of it.
Secondly: Foster’s management seems to understand the signs of the times, let me give you some examples:
I am a former (tiny) shareholder in Fosters and I still receive their newsletters in print to my post office box, although I told them in several of their frequent sales calls that they should better take me of their list. But hey: this is fun – as it gives me exposure to some of the best trained telephone sales people the wine industry has on offer.
But then I open the mail and I am confused: so many brands, so much Shiraz and Cabernet, but so little variety: I have in the past simply questioned Fosters capacity to market what today’s wine drinkers really like, its management still living in an Australian wine climate of 10 years ago. The reshaping of its brands will change this.
Another major lesson learned is the fact that wine and beer just don’t sell well together: the multi beverage model Fosters was pursuing never worked and now is officially called dead. Its Australian wine and its beer, cider and spirits divisions will be structurally separated. I still smile at the idea of having a Fosters/Southcorp sales rep try to convince the average retailer in Wagga to buy one of their 47 wine brands, while the consumer was mainly connecting the Fosters brand with beer.
So there is good news and bad news in today’s announcement for the 7,000 other Australian winemakers: the bad news is that Fosters management has woken up and will stick to its portfolio – they have the deep pockets to finance this change and profits from its beer and spirit business will help turn around their wine story. The only good news in this is that it will take some time for the giant to make it happen.
Valuable time I will take and open another bottle from one of the many fine smaller Boutique wineries here in Australia.
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Die Fosters Gruppe hat heute einschneidende Veraenderungen fuer ihre Struktur beschlossen. Nachdem in den letzten Monaten so ziemlich jede strategische Variante fuer oder gegen den Verbleib der Weinsparte im Konzern diskutiert wurde, hat heute Chairman Crawford verkuendet, dass die Weinsparte an Bord bleibt. Basta!
Allerdings werden innerhalb der Weinsparte massive Veraenderungen vollzogen:
- 36 Weinberge werden verkauft
- 37 Marken im Rahmen der Fosters/Southcorp Weine werden abgegeben
- 3 Wineries in Australien und Kalifornien werden geschlossen oder konsolidiert
Das Ganze fuehrt zu Umstrukturierungskosten in Hoehe von 330-415 Million AUD.
Wir werden diese Vorgaenge in den naechsten Tagen weiter analysieren und Sie auf dem Laufenden halten.
Ihr Michael Brecht
Fired: volunteer firefighters sacked by Australian Beer and Wine Giant
Australian Beer and Wine giant Fosters has considerably damaged its reputation and brand today by laying off two volunteering firefighters, who fought the Victorian bushfires. They both learned the hard way, that doing good for the community does not necessarily spare you from evil. Nine News tonight brought the story, that these two firefighters were sacked while being on duty and that both learned about their fate while being on firefighting duty.
Australian media has picked up this story immediately: we all at downunderwines are shocked by this appalling behaviour of the liquor conglomerate. Knowing that these two men were risking their lives for the sake of communities in danger, Fosters decided against a tactful move. The Australian public has donated more than 80m Australian Dollars for the victims of the bushfires, some of our corporates do not seem to connect the same way with what is happening in Victoria.
The full story on the redundancies can be found here.
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Die Welt schaut nach wie vor gespannt nach downunder, die Braende in Viktoria sind in allen Medien wohl praesent und aus aller Welt kommen inzwischen Hilfslieferungen und Geldsendungen, um den notleidenden Familien zu helfen. Nicht so der australische Bier- und Weinkonzern Fosters: er entliess heute zwei seiner Mitarbeiter, die als freiwillige Feuerwehrleute bei Braenden in und um Beechworth Menschleben schuetzten.
Wir nennen diese Vorgehen taktlos – eine Unverschaemtheit, zumal einer der beiden Tapferen aus den Medien von seiner Entlassung erfuhr. Ein Beispiel dafuer, mit welcher Art Taktgefuehl Fosters hier im australischen Markt vorgeht, egal ob es um Mitarbeiter oder Wettbewerber geht. Sehr schade.
Ihr Michael Brecht
‘Binge Drinking’ and how the Australian government wants to get rid of it!
In Australia we have seen ‘binge drinking’ become a real problem in the past two to three years. Drinking binge is defined as drinking 5 standard drinks or more an evening.
The target group that the government is most concerned about includes the 15-25 year olds: teenagers and people in their young twenties getting completely drunk while drinking alco-pops or beer mixed with any kind of hard liquor. Even the introduction of additional taxes on alco-pops hasn’t helped.
How does binge drinking affect you or your kids?
I simply adore the awareness ads such as the Drinking Nightmare campaign, which provides a good insight into how a night out could go wrong.
Does it help? I have asked a few of the mates in my daughter’s High School – and they all recognize this ad; they even tell me, that this ad is telling us the real story and that they started thinking about the impact alcohol has for them.
Whether it is wine or beer or any kind of alcoholic mixture, let us enjoy responsibly and help our children understand the negative (as well as the positive) consequences alcohol can have on them.
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Die Australische Regierung wirbt seit Ende des vergangenen Jahres verstaerkt mit einer neuen Kampagne gegen das sogenannte ‘Binge Drinking’. Mehr als 5 Glaeser alkoholreicher Getraenke gelten als Binge Drinking und somit als erhoehter Risikofaktor vor allem fuer die 15-25 Jaehrigen.
Ich befragte meine Tochter, die in die HighSchool geht, ob dieser Kampagne in der Schule Beachtung geschenkt wird und sie bejahte das ausdruecklich. ‘Enjoy responsibly’ steht auf jeder Flasche mit Alkoholinhalt in Australien, das gilt wohl fuer jeden fuer uns.
Ihr Michael Brecht
Australische Weine – auch in Indien schwer im Kommen
Der geneigte Vielreisende schaetzt in Indien die Vielzahl an Tees und wenn es um Alkohol geht, so hat kuerzlich die Bierindustrie stark aufgeholt. Mein neues Lieblingsbier in Mumbai oder Delhi ist das Kingfisher Beer, benannt nach der gleichlautenden Fluglinie (die mit den huebschesten Flugbegleiterinnen des Landes) oder der Formel 1 Mannschaft.
Doch in diesem Jahr sind zwei neue Trends in Sachen Wein in Indien erkennbar: die eigene indische Weinproduktion waechst in atemberaubendem Tempo und australischer Wein findet Platz auf den immer besser werdenden Weinkarten indischer Gastronomie. Bislang sind es eher die grossen Marken aus dem Hause Southcorp, Jacobs Creek, Yalumba oder McWilliams, die wir in den hiesigen Weinregalen finden:
Aussie Weine in Mumbai's Restaurants
Das jedoch soll sich aendern, wenn man den Worten der oertlichen Sommeliers Glauben schenken darf.
Sofern Sie also im Grand Hyatt, Hilton Hotel oder gar dem Taj Mahal in Mumbai weilen, oder aber in den fuehrenden Restaurants wie dem trendigen Indigo in Colaba weilen: hier brauchen Sie auf australische Tropfen nicht zu verzichten.
Sommelier in India
Ihr Michael Brecht
Andrew Pirie: heimlicher Koenig Tasmaniens – mein Bericht zu seinem neuen Wein
Tasmanien, das ist das Schweden der Australier. Als letzte Bastion vor dem Suedpol finden wir hier herrliche Sommer und eiskalte Winter vor. Tasmanien, das ist die Heimat der verfeindeten Bierfans von James Boags und Cascade, das Erstere stammt aus dem noerdlichen Launceston, das Zweite aus dem suedlichen Hobart, gleichzeitig der Hauptstadt der Insel.
Kenner wissen die hiesigen Weine zu schaetzen und ich moechte heute von keinem Geringerem, als dem tasmanischen Weinpabst Andrew Pirie berichten. Andrew ist Doktor der Viticulture und gruendete 1972 das Weingut Pipers Brook zu einer Zeit, als in Tasmanien die wenigsten Menschen an zivilisierte Essensformen geschweige denn an Weinanbau dachten. Bis zum Verkauf von Pipers Brook im Jahr 2002 baute Andrew jenes Weingut zu einem der fuehrenden Weinnamen Australiens aus; es war dann aber an der Zeit fuer ihn, neue, eigene Wege zu gehen.
Ich selbst hatte 2004 das Vergnuegen, seine neuesten Weine, die er im wesentlichen unter eigenem Namen (Pirie Wines) vermarktet, vor Ort zu testen und ganz ehrlich gesagt war ich damals reichlich enttaeuscht. Der erste Jahrgang liess so viel von seinen beruehmten Vorgaengern aus dem Hause Pipers vermissen, von daher fasste ich keine Flasche seiner Jahrgaenge 2004 und 2005 mehr an und wagte mich vor wenigen Tagen erstmals wieder an einen Pinot aus dem juengsten Jahrgang 2006.
Und da war es dann wieder: das beruehmte Gefuehl, einen echten Pirie trinken zu duerfen. Ein so junger Wein (im Bild der Pirie South) mit einer eleganten Frische, grossartig zu Fleisch und eben auch Fisch (ohne den gegessen zu haben, duerfen Sie Tasmanien nicht wieder verlassen) – einfach ein Genuss und das zu Preisen von leicht oberhalb 10 EURO. Die Weine werden unter drei Labeln vermarktet, Pirie South als Einstiegsweine, Pirie Estate und Pirie Reserve als die up-market Varianten – jeder fuer seine Preiskategorie ein Genuss. Mal sehen,wie sich die Pipers Brook Weine inzwischen entwickelt haben, einen Test der beiden Gueter gegeneinander werde ich wohl bald einmal anstellen.
