Five Minute Read – September 2008

DURING AUGUST, as the rest of Europe vanished on holiday, the db team also packed our bags and hopped in a cab to the airport. For us, however, the destination was not a white sandy beach on the sun-kissed Riviera. Far from it in fact. Instead we’ve been notching up the airmiles to bring you an unrivalled quantity of in-depth drinks analysis from the four corners of the globe.

Every month the magazine has a distinctly international flavour, but this issue we’ve been even busier than usual, with features from India, Hungary, Austria, Oz, Scotland, Portugal – not to mention a 38-page special focus from Chile.

First up, this month’s top story comes from the US, where Southern and Glazer’s have joined forces to create the biggest distribution network that side of the pond. We then round up the latest goings on in the news, including the Baile family’s reacquisition of Oddbins, Constellation’s down-sizing in Australia and Patron’s decision to sell a stake in the brand to Bacardi.

In the interview we introduce Xavier Pages, the new top man at Codorníu. As the first non-family member to head up the Spanish giant, a huge weight of expectation rests on his shoulders.

Our globe-trotting adventures then begin in earnest on page 18 in India. International brands are desperate to capitalise on the enormous potential of the world’s second most populous nation, but they face stiff competition from dynamic (and massively cheaper) locally made spirits.

Malt whisky is the next item on the agenda, as we ponder how this most traditional of categories can crack that most enigmatic of demographics, young drinkers. On page 34 we then look at a segment that has had rather more sweet success finding favour with the ‘yoof’, but which is currently facing up to the sticky situation that is declining sales. Yes, it can only be RTDs.

The Great db Roadtrip then recommences with a review of the Australian category. We examine pricing dynamics and examine why the category is failing to inject growth at the £9-£10 price point. It’s then off to Hungary, where we meet up with producers who are struggling to crack export markets. Unpronounceable indigenous varietals have held the category back in the past, but progress is now being made as the Hungarians begin to blend native grapes with the international blockbusters.

Struggling through the seemingly random assortment of vowels, consonants and indecipherable squiggles that pass for grape names, we then progress seamlessly to Austria, another nation who’s native varietals don’t exactly trip off the tongue. It’s then off to Portugal, where the scorching August sun makes us wonder whether Port production in the Douro could be threatened by rising global temperatures.

Our travels then finally reach a breathless conclusion in Chile, as our whopping 38-page focus tells you all you need to know about South America’s rising star. We kick off with a detailed overview of the category, before turning the microscope on cool climate plantings, pondering the potential of Chilean fine wine and examining which varietal will be most important to the country’s vinous future. The answer to this last quandary appears to be not one single grape, but a pool of at least five, as the country’s rich diversity enables it to apply a distinctly Chilean twist to a number of different international varietals.

The final third of the issue kicks off with our new regular green section. We bring news of Diageo’s £65m investment in a pioneering biofuel project and hear how The Carbon Trust can help businesses struggling with the credit crunch to cut costs at the same time as reducing their environmental impact. WRAP’s Nicola Jenkin then provides a thought-provoking comment on the industry’s growing commitment to all things green, before we hear how Brown-Forman has placed the environment at the centre of its business practice.

Marketing then includes a review of new campaigns from the likes of Heineken, Smirnoff and Martini; scrutiny of new products from Moët Hennessy’s sparkling cellar of 1998; and a discussion of the latest strategies from Côtes du Rhône, Chianti and Louis Roederer.

We then throw on our glad rags to attend the openings of this month’s most exciting new on-trade establishments, including the latest addition to the Rising Star portfolio and the second London instalment of Vivat Bacchus. And we hear about Laduma, a new South African initiative that is being developed to capitalise on the upcoming 2010 World Cup.

n the finance pages we search for the silver lining in the gloomy storm clouds that dominate the horizon, and examine the long-awaited resurgence of Bordeaux whites in the secondary market.

We then round off the issue with a brief hello to the people who have made the news in the trade this month. Bacardi CEO Seamus McBride is on the move, while Salut features a Kirin-sponsored film festival and a vicar delivering a sermon from an unlikely pulpit: the original St Austell pub. Amen.