Wine World in (R)Evolution

Wine World in (R)Evolution

The last few weeks, even months to a year have seen a lot of changes in the wine world, not only the Piedmont versus Belgium but also other countries. Because of the impossibility of sifting through all the figures, I limit myself to Belgium, Flanders and Wallonia. Going deeper into a few essentials.

What shifts in category "winelovers", only about Flanders narrative

The figures we have are of course from campaigns social media etc....

Where previously the "65+" category was without any doubt at the top in terms of wine purchases, this is no longer the case today. Certainly 60% of our customers were over 65. Reason why there are fewer purchases? First of all, they travel a lot. I look at my own neighbors who travel about six times a year for a week or more. Second reason is that this group apparently has a lot more medical issues anyway which limits alcohol consumption. The third reason is that they have invested heavily in wine in the past, so about 10 years ago, and now very often have an overflowing wine cellar. Fourth reason: they are often in restaurants, so they order at restaurants. These 65+ now barely take 25% of our turnover.

So the group 55 to 65 years old used to be at least about 40% and consists of still actively working, public with a busy social life, live completely different from the group 65+ also in choice of their wines. It all doesn't have to be in the wine cellar for 20 years. This group now takes 60% of the market, so up 20% just like that.

Then there is the 45% to 55% group and they have a very different drinking pattern. They are partly interested in wine but more in organic and natural wines, artisan beers, cocktails and especially non-alcoholic solutions. So wine has a place here but certainly not primordially. The group 45 + to 55 used to be almost nil, but now it represents 12% of the market share.

And then there is the group of 35+ to 45-year-olds, which barely takes 3%. This is also a new group for us.

It is logical that for each group you have to have a different approach, from very serious message to playful, from classy and stylish to somewhat AI-driven content.

But this was Flanders, now Wallonia,....

I've always been told that 89% of winelovers buy from the department store, 10% from specialty retailers and 1% online. For Wallonia, this is certainly true!

When I had to organize a degustation and my goal was to clearly show that what my audience from Liege bought as Barolo in the supermarket was not the Barolo they would drink with, I made a discovery. For weeks I had been referred by neighbors to a Barolo from supermarket Intermarché (159 outlets in Belgium) I came to the cheapest price namely just under 15 euros. The producer? Unknown, clearly a private label! The contents? Nothing more than a Dolcetto from 3 months of stainless steel.

Same for Carrefour with a Barbaresco, also private label, cost 11 euros. Producer? Unknown! Private label in other words. Contents: again, clearly a Dolcetto of barely 3 or slightly more months old, inox.

Never drunk such a sour Barolo and Barbaresco in my life. But I would "do something" with it during the tasting. The tasting was for 8 people who had never drunk Barolo or Barbaresco before. The unknown Barolo & Barbaresco wrapped in silver foil and served first. I could barely contain myself from laughing at their comments.

Quickly switched to real Barolo's especially Cascina Gavetta Barolo standard, and Cascina Gavetta Corini-Pallaretta, Barolo Mantoetto by Umberto Fracassi, and the new comers in our range Rizieri (3 barolo's not yet online). Of course hilarious reactions!!! Also when hearing the prices.

We do not follow the Walloon market with facebook or instagram paid actions. So we have no overview of it. We have very few customers because even the private persons with professions like surgeons, dieticians, bank directors etc... stick to a wine of maximum 8 €. How the wine merchants survive in the desert of Wallonia. I have my guess.

Author: Karina Imschoot

Photo below: Barolo Cascina Gavetta Action price 32.00 € - meaning 18% discount -  https://www.madeinpiedmont-wines.be/vini-rossi/barolo/cascina-gavetta---barolo-2020