If you think this is the case, then go right ahead. But right now major campaigns have been launched to capture a share of the lucrative sparkling wine market. I came across two wineries with similar looks to their rebranding efforts. It got me to thinking, “What is going on here?
Still there is this battle to capture the luxury sparkling wine buyer. Sometimes a rave review from Antonio Galloni isn’t enough. Often, the buyer doesn’t read wine reviews. The buyer isn’t that into wine. But the buyer is looking for luxury and quality. The problem is getting their attention.
Roederer’s campaign is a turn from their conventional marketing ways. Enter color on the labels. Enter bright, attractive, abstract packaging, appealing to a different esthete. When I first looked at the gift boxes I didn’t quite get it. Who are these for? (not me)… And then I started thinking outside of the gift boxes. Like perfume, the lure is most important.
And then in Italy something almost identical happened. Bellavista winery came out with their new packages, even more colorful and full of the emotional style that is quintessentially Italian. Again, I asked myself, “Who are these for?”
I realize the lures are not trying to attract me, which is a good thing. The lure is young, mobile, slightly more upscale sparkling wine drinker who is looking for a brand that breaks away from the traditional sparkling wines, whether they be Champagne or Prosecco. In the case of Bellavista the target is to find someone tired of cheap, sweet Prosecco but not French Champagne. If you know folks from the Franciacorta production zone, they have their own identity and they are trying very hard to imprint their uniqueness on a new generation of sparkling wine drinkers. The bright colors, the abstract packages, the excitement, the emotion, all these aspects are meant to lure people to their brand.
None of these package developments say anything about quality. But they infer excitement, change, luxury and it is as if quality is taken for granted. Thankfully both of these houses, Roederer and Bellavista are top quality classic method sparkling wine houses.
But this is just setting the scene for the battle which will be waged in the coming months. Sparkling wine is more often drunk during the fall and winter holiday seasons. And while many Italians and French people will be lying on the beach in the coming months, the sparkling wine houses will not be resting, sleeping or even napping. The stakes are high, and these two houses raised the bar with unusual and provocative rebranding. We will see who succeeds on the battleground for the luxury sparkling wine market, and hopefully along the way enjoy a bottle or two.
written by Alfonso Cevola limited rights reserved On the Wine Trail in Italy
wine blog + Italian wine blog + Italy W
