Wine & Spirits - December 2021 - 10

News in Brief
cHEcKING ON THE
LEES AT PIERRE
GImONNET & FILS
Demand had softened in the two
years leading up to the pandemic.
By late summer 2020, while the
sun was shining in Champagne,
the world remained in lockdown,
and vaccines were still months
from release. Despite what many
consider a second consecutive
year of exceptional growing conditions,
the authorities decided
to cut allowable yields 20 percent
below the norm-without knowing
if demand would come back,
and still feeling the weight of the
previous slowdown. (A board of
industry stakeholders including
growers and houses sets the permissible
yield every year).
Champagne growers lobbied
for the right to harvest 'a normal
volume' in 2020, Gimonnet says.
" It is impossible for a winegrower
not to pick [fruit of] incredible
quality; we know that nature
can be generous in one year, and
capricious the next. " But, he says,
their requests were denied.
Sure enough, 2021 proved a
difficult vintage for the region
as a whole, with a late frost that
reduced quantities, as well as hail
and rain that led to mildew pressure
on the grapes in some parts
of the region. Throw in a worldwide
shortage of shipping containers
and backups at ports-as
well as importer anxiety about
not being able to fulfill holiday
orders-and it's a recipe for
volatility.
Economists have a term for
this: the bullwhip effect. Even
small shifts in consumer demand
(the handle of the whip) ricochet
through the supply chain as shops
start to stock up, which means
10
WINE & SPIR IT S
distributors scramble for more
product; ultimately, the producers
feel the snap of the whip and
sell out of inventory earlier than
usual, this year, by August.
" The desire to celebrate at
home and on-premise is fueling a
stronger than expected demand,
which also leads the retailers and
distributors to secure additional
supply, " says Collard.
Meanwhile, the market in the
U.S. has been robust. Delarue
reports Bollinger's U.S. sales last
year increased by 20 percent and
are up 42 percent through September
this year.
Seeing demand rise off the
charts sounds like a great problem
to have. But when the product's
quantities are largely fixed
years in advance, it can lead to
frustration for producers and
consumers alike.
" Life is simple and sweet when
it is balanced and harmonious, "
Gimonnet says. " Currently, it is
not. We are really worried. It is
not normal that every morning, I
wish the sales would stop. "
" We are sold-out of a record
number of wines even before the
Champagne season has begun, "
says Gabriel Clary, who manages
Skurnik Wines & Spirits' Austria,
Germany and Champagne
portfolios. Through September,
Skurnik's Champagne sales had
increased by 100 percent over the
previous 12-month period.
Advice for American consumers
hoping to raise a glass of their
favorite Champagne this holiday
season? Plan ahead. Or, if that
(container) ship has sailed-be
flexible. ●
D E c E mb ER 2021
● On October 8, Barbara
Winiarski, wife
of Napa winemaker
Warren Winiarski, died
at the age of 88. The
Winiarskis purchased
a prune orchard in the
Stags Leap District of
the Napa Valley in 1970.
The winery's cabernet
took top honors at the
Judgment of Paris wine
tasting in 1976 and
played a seminal role
in the establishment of
Napa Valley as a worldclass
wine region. In her
long career, Winiarski
was known as a dedicated
artist, philanthropist
and land preservationist.
-P.J.C.
● The Santa Lucia
Highlands AVA shrank
slightly in September,
shedding 376 acres
along the Salinas River's
flood plain (none of
which were planted) and
gaining 148 previously
classified as Arroyo Seco
AVA in Jackson Family
Wines' 424-acre Kitewinder
Vineyard. -S.S.
● The Bollinger family,
who acquired Ponzi
Vineyards in May of
this year, appointed
Jean-Baptiste Rivail
as CEO of Ponzi and
Executive VP of its parent
company, SJB USA,
in October. Rivail had
most recently served as
GM for SJB USA's Newton
Vineyards, in Napa
Valley. -S.S.
● This fall, Hope Well,
an Eola-Amity Hills
vineyard established in
2014 by Mimi Casteel,
was acquired by Bledsoe/McDaniels,
a partnership
between former
NFL star-turned winery-owner
Drew Bledsoe
and winemaker and
CEO, Josh McDaniels.
Casteel had maintained
one of the most coveted
vineyard sites in the Willamette
Valley, farmed
with a meticulous,
highly personal, regenerative
organic practice.
Her work was covered
in this magazine in April
2021. In a letter to her
wine-club customers,
Casteel said she intends
to move " the winery, the
philosophy, the entire
ethos " to a smaller,
more manageable
property. -P.J.C.
● In September, Sullivan
Rutherford Estate
acquired the 18-acre
Criscione Vineyard
from Joe and Ashley
Criscione, previously
a source of cabernet
sauvignon for Araujo,
Harlan and Ovid,
among others. -S.S.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF PIERRE GIMONNET & FILS, STAG'S LEAP WINE CELLARS
Wine & Spirits - December 2021

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