Dec 2008
The Wine Merchant in Shanghai (2)
The Code.
As a producer our wines reach the consumer through importers and distributors. If we can establish direct communication with the consumer and create demand, importers would be calling us to distribute our wines.
Nobody can explain the story behind a wine better then the bodega owner or wine maker himself, but of course how do we reach the consumer directly, and can we do it in his language, and can he reach us ?
YES ! The answer is the code.
Somosene, a design and communication studio in Barcelona I regularly collaborate with came up with one of the smartest ideas I’ve seen lately. For the bodega Cingles Blaus from Montsant they designed a new corporate image and incorporated the code in all labels. These codes, from Japanese origin was used in industry to track packages or add information for assembly, production, etc. and is read by a device or such a common thing as a mobile phone.
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Cingles Blaus is a modern, upcoming Montsant bodega that produces high personality wines for curious and demanding wine consumers, often young people in search for something new and exciting. This young generation of wine drinkers are children of the new technology (internet, mobile phone) and spend money on quality wines they discover on their search to knowledge, experience and above all enjoying live. They spend an average of 15 € on a quality bottle of wine (proceeding from any wine region in the world) but before buying the wine they want the opportunity to taste it. So image you are in a restaurant and the sommelier recommends you an excited wine you fall in love with, the code makes it super-easy to store information where to find this wine. The consumer just makes a picture of the code and goes home with all the information he needs as well as being in direct contact with the producer.
At Shanghai wine fair I presented the code-label of Cingles Blaus to producers, DO’s, governmental entities and of course consumers and they are all quite exciting about it. It has endless possibilities and when you start to think about it ideas are infinite.
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Cingles Blaus is the first bodega on Spanish territory that incorporates the code and shows the world what wine making is about: communication, like a painter through his paintings, like a musician through his music, like a wine maker through his wine.
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The Wine Merchant in shanghai
Now that economic crisis is striking in all capitalist countries, Russia, China and Japan are the new markets to look for export.
I’m present with the DO Montsant for promotion at the 8
th Shanghai FHC Wine Fair.
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SUMMARY OF EVENTS AT THE SPANISH GASTRONOMY AREA INSIDE THE SPANISH PAVILION AT FOOD & HOTEL CHINA, SHANGHAI; DECEMBER 4-6
西班牙美食区活动简介第十二届国际食品、饮料、酒店设备展西班牙展区内(124日至6日)
THE GASTRONOMY AREA INSIDE THE SPANISH PAVILION AT THE 2008 FANCY
FOOD SHOW IN SHANGHAI WILL HOST A COMPLETE PROGRAM OF ACTIVITIES
DURING THE THREE DAYS OF THE SHOW. THESE EVENTS ARE OPEN TO ALL TRADE VISITORS ATTENDING THE SHOW, AND SOME OF THEM ARE ALSO OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN ORDER TO GET TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS SPANISH GOURMET PRODUCTS.
上海食品、饮料、酒店设备展西班牙展区内的美食区将在三天的展会中举办一系列的活动。活动对所有的专业观众开放,其中有一些对大众开放,希望大家能够了解并体 验这些最著名的西班牙美食产品。

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008
2008124日星期三
11:30- SEMINAR ON CATALONIA WINES. EXPERT STEPHAN LISMOND WILL
CONDUCT A STANDING UP TASTING OF DIFFERENTS VARIETIES OF DIFFERENT
AREAS FROM THE REGION. CAVA WINES, WHITE AND RED WINES WILL BE TASTED.
SPONSORED BY PRODECA.
11:30 - 加泰罗尼亚葡萄酒研讨会 专家Stephan Lismond将带领大家品尝来自加泰
罗尼亚各地区的葡萄酒:卡瓦气泡酒、白葡萄酒和红葡萄酒。由西班牙加泰罗尼亚政府 贸易促进会(PRODECA)赞助。
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To establish contacts with importers I need to understand Chinese culture. This is probably the most interesting part of my job, but also the most complicated. Culture is based on hundreds of years of history, trespassed through the genes of the people (cfr Darwin).
In China wine is new, so how do they understand what wine means to Spain. I told in my speech:
“In Spain farmers are used to make ‘wines to drink’, this may sound obvious as wine is of course to drink, but I wouldn’t be lying if I say in Spain people drink wine with breakfast, lunch and dinner. Wine is important in Spanish culture and people used to buy carafes of 5 litre for daily consume, straight from the barrel of the near by bodega.”
The interpreter said to the public something like:
“Wine for Spaniards is like rice for us, we can’t have a meal without it”

The presentation was a big success. Chinese like the Montsant wines, although they get easily drunk after a few sips. Wine drinking is definitely not in their genes ! But they are open, curious about wine. And what is better than passing our experience to other cultures, feel together and all human in this oversized world village we live in. A village is Shanghai definitely not. Shanghai was lifted from the ground in only hundred years. The new area ‘Pudong’ across the river with enormous skyscrapers and ‘the pearl of China’ is constructed in only 15 years, and still foundations of even bigger buildings are constructed as we speak. The strength of China is undoubtedly the force of the big number of civilians. Everywhere you see more personal you can imagine. From the hotel lobby, restaurant, bar, shops, constructions, taxis, etc., the big number of people is omni present. There are a lot of Chinese and they deserve more individualism, you get the feeling that one less is no big deal (they told me with a smile that during the building up of the last fair at the convention centre it had cost the lives of two people in an accident!).
In Shanghai live 20 million people, half the amount of entire Spain. This is a scale that we in Europe don’t understand. Catalan, Bask, Flemish are proud of their culture and fight to defend what is theirs. Here, everybody, unless you are extremely wealthy, … is nobody.
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