Doubtless WineThink

Wake up and smell the petrol?

hughammundsen — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 09:47:18 +0000

A number of recent articles touting future trends or next big things that I have read in recent weeks have highlighted factors that I believe warrant some serious questioning indeed. I am convinced that a great many wine professionals are influenced heavily by personal tastes sometimes to the detriment of judgement, and moreover that this …

A New Zealand Chardonnay Classification

hughammundsen — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 22:30:23 +0000

CBA is the reverse of ABC Ten years ago in 2000, New Zealand not only grew more hectares of chardonnay than any other grape, but that year (for the last time) it was also the largest variety by tonnage harvested, about 30% of the total industry output. Today, even though still the third largest variety …

Capital Asphyxia

hughammundsen — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 03:32:27 +0000

Why access to capital is critical for the future of the wine industry “Capital intensive” is a descriptor applied to industries that require substantial amounts of capital for the production of goods. Investors usually also apply descriptors such as “long-term” for the simple reason that such industries rarely provide reliable swift payback on amounts invested. …

An Excise in Understatement

hughammundsen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 20:49:39 +0000

New Zealand Winegrowers has made two public statements regarding excise in recent times. In the first it advocated shifting the accounting for excise to the retail end of the chain. In the second it advocated that the Government give the annual excise increase due on 1 July next year a miss owing to the significant …

Wine Industry in Crisis?

hughammundsen — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 01:24:19 +0000

I was interviewed this morning for TVNZ’s NZI Business programme on the Breakfast show regarding the state of the “industry in crisis”. I felt that for those with the time to read it might be helpful to add to and amplify my comments (which for the time being may be found at http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/nzi-business-wine-industry-in-crisis-4-15-video-3855494). When the …

Of Water, Wine, Prices and Agendas

hughammundsen — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 07:59:18 +0000

One of the top wine stories in last week’s press in New Zealand, front page news in fact, was a report that wine prices (as a proxy for liquor in general) had fallen to such an extent over the last decade that they are now cheaper than bottled water. The inference from this story was …

Pernod Ricard Moves – Image, Reality and Implications

hughammundsen — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 08:53:08 +0000

Behind the Actual Announcement Early last week global drinks giant Pernod Ricard announced that it had decided to base its global wine business in Sydney. Not surprisingly this announcement attracted some attention, including some rather mischievous statements interpreting the announcement along the lines that Pernod Ricard New Zealand’s (the former Montana Wines, in the process of …

Reshaping the Wine Pyramid

hughammundsen — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 07:33:56 +0000

Many will be familiar with the concept of the price/volume “pyramid”. This is a simple diagrammatic way of displaying the typical situation in many product markets (wine most definitely included) where the largest volumes of sale are sold at low prices and decreasing volumes as prices increase. In other words, like a pyramid the diagram …

The Strong and the Weak – a story of opportunity?

hughammundsen — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 23:56:09 +0000

The Financial Strength of the NZ Wine Industry According to various commentators the New Zealand wine industry is presently either strongly placed, a basket case, or somewhere in between. There are problems and this is acknowledged by all. However, compared with some of our competitors a lot more seems to be going right, rather than …

Bordeaux 2009 – Curiouser and Curiouser

hughammundsen — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 03:31:02 +0000

“Prices are going to go up. How far? I have no idea. The market will decide.” Corinne Mentzelopoulos, Chateau Margaux A number of wine producers in New World have dipped their toes into trying to sell their wines through an en primeur-type system, setting prices and obtaining the advantage of certainty of sales and early …