Off the Beaten Track with Lutzville Wines

2013-02-15T09:04:00.004+02:00

Day 2 - Legend of The Crimea

After a few days in Russia, you learn a few lessons:

a.)   Selling wine in Russia is, like farming, not for sissies.
b.)   BUT there is an interest in South Africa especially for Chenin Blanc & Pinotage.
c.)   There is an increasing awareness of South Africa as Russians have been to South Africa on holiday.
d.)   Price AND packaging is important.
e.)   Don’t drink Vodka with Russians or Spanish people
f.)   Ukraine is underrated as a Eurovision contestant.

There are several significant barriers to entry in Russia. High customs duties and administratively intensive demands on labelling are a few. To give an example, an imported entry level bottle of wine costs approximately 300 Roubles which equates to about R90 / bottle. Despite this, wine sales by volume are growing (approx. 257 million litres – still + fortified) and so is the South African category. Our importer here in Russia explained that South Africa as a category has grown by 5.3% compared to the total figure of 1.7% (wine by volume). However South Africa as a proportion of total sales is tiny with less than 1% of the market.

With this in mind, despite the large income inequality in Russia, it appears that a middle class is growing in Russia (albeit slowly) in this 150 million strong population.
In terms of wines, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz and Pinotage have been a hit (at least from the Lutzville wines) and importers appreciate the quality of wines from South Africa. Having said this, at the lower end, price and packaging are king (Russian importers here say that they still get prices of EURO 1.15 / bottle FOB for varietal wines from Chile) and negotiating is tough as the consumer does not always understand the difference in quality between genric red & white European wines and the quality that is grown in South Africa.

In Moscow there is an appetite for high end premium wines but the toughest segment is undoubtedly the mid-priced section. However the best news is that South Africa as a wine producing country is being noticed and many importers are looking (although it is not easy).
After a heavy day of meetings we found some time to enjoy a little of Moscow’s nightlife. Accompanied by Robinson Sinclair and Avondale Lutzville went for dinner @ a Russian braai house called Café Pushka in rather glam surroundings (and jaw dropping prices if you are paying in Rands). While scanning the menu (brains and eggs was on the list) Jonathon from Avondale explained the intricacies of his biodynamic wine making process at Avondale and had us all drooling for one of his bottles. It is now top of my list of wine farms to visit when I am next in Paarl and explains why his booth has been so popular at Prodexpo (http://www.avondalewine.co.za/)!

Later that night, we snuck off to one of the importer dinners which included an electro space man theme, an Italian crooner by the name of Al Bano, a Ukrainian Dame Edna and some dancing LED robots. The evening was topped off with some customary Vodka drinking while passionately shouting “Nastorovia!” before stumbling out into the freezing cold Moscow evening and safely to bed, in readiness for another day @ the Prodexpo arena.

From Russia with Love

2013-02-13T12:21:00.001+02:00

Arriving in Moscow we were blessed with unusually warm weather. Bathing ourselves in the warmth of 0 degrees centigrade (although it was forecast to get MUCH colder) we are on a crusade to persuade our Ruski cousins that the future is bright and the future includes wines from South Africa.

Along with several other producers (Avondale, Van Loveren, Rhebokskloof, Robinson & Sinclair to name a few) Lutzville is in Moscow to attend Prodexpo in our search a distributor to share the love for our fantastic award winning wines. Prodexpo is one of Russsia’s largest food & drinks events – the floor space alone covers 47,000 sq m2 (think of 13 rugby pitches side by side), entertains over 2,000 exhibitors and admits 86,000 (about the size of Paarl) trade visitors over 5 days. If this sounds daunting, add navigating the complexities of the Moscow underground network to the list!

What is apparent on arrival at Prodexpo, is the creative ways that alcoholic beverages are marketed in Russia. Women feature heavily with models painted in body paint, ladies in all sorts of fancy dress and a full on marching band with drums parading around the exhibition centre. It certainly raises the bar compared to your average wine exhibition.

In the next post we will identify some of the challenges of importing wines into Russia as well as an insight into Russian electro pop dancing.

Chat soon Lutzville Lover & Spasiba!

Harvest 2012 - Update

2012-03-09T11:47:00.000+02:00

Just a quick up date on the vintage so far! The summer started a little later this year which means that we are picking our grapes a little later than usual. The weather was extremely cool until about mid Jan, when there was a massive heat wave - but since then the temperatures have cooled down and the grapes have continued on their journey of joyful maturation. All the Chenin Blancs and Sauvignon Blancs have been picked and the quality is looking LEKKER - everyone at the winery is excited about the quality for this vintage. The Chardonnay in particular is looking good and Kenneth (our winemaker in charge of all good things Chardonnay) is revelling at the prospect of getting his mits on these prime bunches.

Pinotage is now being harvested and then we will move on to the bigger reds - the spicy Shiraz, soft and sultry Merlot and the big Cabernets. Can't wait! Check out the photo below from Gideon Engelbrecht our viticultralist (and legendary wearer of floral shirts) explaining how quickly the Pinotage grape can change colour:

Hectic! You go on holiday and Kazam!!! - the bunches have changed colour. A handy trick indeed.

Will be in touch with some more updates - the winemakers have got some new toys to play with, watch this space and don't forget to keep treading off the beaten track!

Lutzville Sauvignon Blanc 2010 storms into the 2011 FNB Top 10 Sauvignon Blancs in South Africa

2011-11-13T18:37:00.003+02:00

Lutzville caused a stir with their surprise but well deserved inclusion into the prestigious 2011 FNB Top 10 Sauvignon Blanc awards. Lutzville beat off competition from more prestigious wine estates to clinch an amazing Top 10 finish (out of 169 wines).

Established in 1963 and situated only 20 minutes from the Atlantic Coast - Lutzville benefits from the cool ocean mists that roll in keeping the average temperature down. The large temperature difference between day and night allow the Sauvignon Blanc grapes to rest in the evenings and gradually develop complex flavours. Combined with the mineral rich free draining soils this provides a special terroir that is unique to the Lutzville Valley.

“Our Sauvignon Blanc vineyards are only 10 kilometres from the sea as the crow flies. This fantastic location provides a cool climate for our Sauvignon Blanc, allowing us to pick a portion of the Sauvignon Blanc at a lower sugar level. This gives our wines its finesse, full ripeness, earthy, grassy, herbaceous and capsicum flavours” explains Gideon Theron, head winemaker at Lutzville Vineyards.

Gavin Whittaker, Sales & Marketing Manager added: “We are very proud of our achievement – our Sauvignon Blanc is 100% sourced from the Lutzville Valley and is a testament of the quality that you find in our area. Hopefully this will introduce more wine lovers to the fantastic wines that we can produce.”

There is a limited amount of Lutzville Sauvignon Blanc 2010 still available from the cellar door priced at R26.99 / bottle. Otherwise please try the delicious Lutzville Sauvignon Blanc 2011 which has just won a Veritas Silver and a IWSC Silver medal award. The perfect tipple for the summer!

Find out more:
http://www.wine.co.za/news/news.aspx?NEWSID=19191&Source=News

What's For Dinner - Update

2011-08-03T17:00:00.000+02:00

Hi guys!

Just to update you on some of the weird and wonderful recipes which we have been receiving with regards to the What's For Dinner? campaign!

Check out this fresh feta pasta salad from Victoria Hut:

Think you can do better? Email us on: info@lutzvillevineyards.com

What's For Dinner?

2011-06-28T14:06:00.002+02:00

With the cold and long winter nights set to continue for the next month - July is the best month to get creative in the kitchen and cook up some culinary delights to share with your friends or just to pig out. Lutzville would like to encourage this creativity by providing some liquid refreshment to the cause!

If you are based in Cape Town let us know and we will supply you with 2 bottles of Lutzville wines to have with dinner. We have 60 bottles in total to give away! All we ask in return is that you take a photo of your Lutzville bottle with the meal and send it to info@lutzvillevineyards.com. We will then post your photos, food and receipes on our Facebook page for everyone to admire your creativity.

For the best receipe and food match we will contribute R300 towards their next meal out as well as a case of Lutzville wines for your enjoyment.

To add your details to the list please contact info@lutzvillevineyards.com to get your free bottles and start cooking!

This offer is subject to availability and only available to adults over the age of 18. Please drink (and cook) responsibly.

New Website!

2011-06-07T13:25:00.001+02:00

Had a good meeting this morning with webwizard. They are going to tweak our website and bring us into the 21st Century! No more diamond dredgers, seagulls and corny music! Watch this space - we will announce the launch soon...