IMW: Global Gathering

Bordeaux’s IMW Symposium saw the great and the good of the international wine community discuss the industry’s key issues, such as globalisation and the rise of the internet. Gabriel Savage reports.

Despite the best efforts of the French unions, a truly prestigious line-up of delegates and speakers gathered in Bordeaux at the end of June for the seventh Institute of Masters of Wine symposium, Forging Links.

Co-chaired by Fiona Morrison MW and Jacques Lurton with support from the Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux, the three-day event brought together 300 industry leaders from 31 countries. For the international field of delegates this offered a unique chance to tap into an extraordinarily broad spectrum of expertise.

The event’s strongly international feel saw Alessia Antinori, Antinori’s family ambassador to the US, join Christian Seely, managing director of AXA Millésimes, among others, as part of a panel to examine the roles of families and corporations in the wine industry.

Meanwhile Michel Rolland and Egon Müller traded views on New World versus Old World inspiration. Two sessions covering particularly hot topics saw Cellartracker founder Eric LeVine share his views on the opportunities for wine on the web, while India’s charismatic sommelier and TV presenter Magandeep Singh added his own insight on how the trade can capitalise on the eyewateringly fast-paced developments taking place in key emerging markets.

Indeed, such was the wealth of information each of the BRIC representatives were required to cram into their presentations, it raised the question of how long we can usefully continue to pin these four huge and vastly different nations under a single umbrella.

As Junior Vianna MW, wine director of Coe Vintners, pointed out in his own snapshot of the Brazilian wine market, this is a country equivalent in size to the distance between London and Baghdad. One can only imagine the likely response to asking a French producer to cover off the entire European wine market, never mind his own region, in 15 minutes.

Outside the wine trade

No less important was the input which came from beyond the immediate confines of the wine trade. Mayor of Bordeaux and former French prime minister Alain Juppé opened proceedings at a riverside dinner on the Thursday night, while international advertising guru Sir John Hegarty delivered a keynote speech urging the trade to “lose the mystery and keep the magic”.

He described a marketplace dramatically changed in recent years by the twin factors of globalisation and digital technology, with the result that “information, knowledge and power increasingly reside with your audience”.

Comparing the wine industry with the worlds of fashion or cars, Hegarty described it as “the most fragmented market I’ve ever experienced”.

Despite the fantastic choice this offers consumers, Hegarty warned of the associated dangers of this situation, remarking: “Never underestimate the public’s lack of knowledge and inability to acquire it; looking foolish is not a selling proposition and we as an industry have encouraged that fear.”

Bringing this criticism back to his core theme, Hegarty suggested that through innovation, differentiation, quality and improved accessibility, the wine industry’s current problems of over-production could be solved not through contraction, but rather more positively by encouraging growth in consumption.

The internet revolution

With the challenges and opportunities presented by globalisation ticked off effectively by the BRIC session, the “Wine On The Web” discussion brought delegates up to speed on the pitfalls and springboards offered by the digital revolution.

In a conversation spanning blogs, reviews, social media and smartphone technology, Jancis Robinson MW began by highlighting the power shift from a small group of experts to a vast sea of consumers. Of her own role, she observed: “We stand and fall by our expertise and we’re constantly put on the line. I think it’s foolish to say it’s the old guard versus the bloggers: we’re all in this together.”

Offering some idea of the scale of this revolution, Eric LeVine pointed out that the 1.5 million reviews posted by his 50,000-strong Cellertracker army generates the same amount of content in a week as Robert Parker and The Wine Spectator publish in a year.

Rowan Gormley, founder of Naked Wines, offered a particularly commercial perspective on this growing power within a producer or retailer’s consumer base.

Revealing that “44% of our returning customers review the wine they bought”, Gormley also noted that the results from a recent exercise presenting the same wine in terms of either medals awarded, press reviews or community reviews, saw the latter prove by far the most influential factor among his consumers.

Identifying a potentially positive outcome here for smaller producers making original wines, Gormley predicted: “I think the exciting thing for the wine trade is that the community is very likely to pick out wines which are unusual or different and really get stuck into those, which is encouraging people to try grapes, blends or regions that they wouldn’t otherwise come across.”

Despite the exciting opportunities presented by a rapidly evolving online world, there were some words of caution too. Condensing his self-professed geek status into a single piece of advice about achieving that crucial search engine optimisation, LeVine suggested: “The most actionable thing for everyone is having a good clean website that’s not a flash blob,” a comment he directed in particular towards many European producers.

Above all, Gormley warned any slow starters keen to dip their toe in the water: “Until you figure out something unique or interesting to do, don’t bother.”

As the symposium dust settled in the wake of a gala dinner hosted by Château Pontet Canet, Fiona Morrison MW remarked on the success of the event, saying: “We wanted to challenge how we think and communicate about wine and to learn from each other in an atmosphere of openness and trust. Our delegates, speakers and sponsors recognised the unique nature of the event and helped to create a truly memorable and enriching experience.”

Given the rapidly evolving nature of so many of the subjects packed into the three-day event, it’s not difficult to anticipate a pressing need to revisit the changed landscape by the time the next IMW symposium comes round in four years’ time.

Gabriel Savage, August 2010