Franciacorta ‘must recruit good ambassadors’

Franciacorta must recruit strong ambassadors if it is to build momentum in key export markets such as the UK, one of the region’s leading producers has said.

Mosnel owns 139 hectares of vineyards in the Franciacorta DOC (Photo: Mosnel)

According to Lucia Barzanò, owner of the historic Mosnel estate in Camignone, the Consorzio Franciacorta is targeting growth in four key export markets at present – the US, UK, Japan and Germany – however the combination of a limited marketing budget and stiff competition from other sparkling wine regions, from Champagne to Prosecco to Trento DOC and English sparkling, mean there is a challenge for the region to make its voice heard.

“We need good ambassadors,” she told db. “Italian sparkling wine is [thought of as] Prosecco, so we have to explain and tell the differences between Franciacorta and Prosecco, and to explain why Franciacorta is more expensive than Prosecco.

“Our consorzio decided to invest in some countries – the UK, Germany, the US and Japan – around five years ago. We would like to have more success abroad, but it’s difficult to explain what Franciacorta is. Then we are between Champagne and Prosecco, and it’s not easy.”

In the UK, the Consorzio Franciacorta collaborates with Tom Harrow of Honest Grapes for promotional events and tastings, while in US it works with Jeremy Parzen on seminars, tastings and a dedicated Franciacorta blog.

The consorzio’s most recent marketing activity was a Franciacorta Pop-Up Bar during the London Wine Week.

Such marketing efforts will need to be maintained, and indeed intensified, if Franciacorta is to consolidate its position in export markets.

As reported in the drinks business in February, total sales of Franciacorta increased by 7.1% in Italy and 7.5% in export markets in 2015, despite what the consorzio described as “an extremely complex climate in the economy as a whole”.

Around 16.5 million bottles of Franciacorta were sold worldwide in 2015, the consorzio announced, of which more than 1.5 million were sold in export markets.

Exports of Franciacorta to the UK were up 4.9% in the last quarter of 2015 – a considerable plateauing after volume sales soared 172.5% in the UK market between 2013 and 2014 as the consorzio made its first concerted move to establish a strong export base here.

Explaining that production capacity for the region was around 20 million bottles from around 120 mostly small wineries, Barzanò emphasised the need to think creatively with regard to the marketing of Franciacorta abroad. Given the budget restrictions of the region, the role of brand ambassadors in key export countries was strategically very important, she said.

More news…

Prosecco and Coravin lead UK on-trade trends
Consorzio Franciacorta appoints new president 

Commenting on the challenge of succeeding in the UK market in light of the EU referendum vote, Barzanò remarked that, though it was a “confused situation”, Franciacorta had a good chance thanks to Brits’ strong appetite for sparkling wine.

“It’s a challenge because we don’t know what will happen. It’s a confused situation,” she said. “But I think that Franciacorta could be successful in the UK because it’s a country of sparkling wine lovers. It’s a very interesting market.

Mosnel’s first certified organic Franciacorta will be released in 2017 (Photo: Mosnel)

“The challenge is to make Franciacorta more known and to explain what Franciacorta is – and also to invite people to come to our area.

“With Ryanair it’s two hours way from the UK. We have an airport which is only 40 minutes away from Franciacorta – Milano Orio al Serio – so you can enjoy the tourism in the area.

“We have the beautiful Iseo lake; this summer we had the artist Christo, who made an installation over the lake where we had more than one million people in two weeks come from around the world. The interest in the area is increasing. So I think we have to promote the area, for tourism, food and wine.

“We are going to plan some ambassadors in the key countries because it’s a successful way of promoting wines.”

Mosnel owns 39ha of vineyards in the north-east of the Franciacorta region, between Brescia and Lago d’Iseo.

The 180-year-old estate became certified organic in 2014. Its first certified organic Franciacorta will be released next spring.

The estate has played a central role in the Franciacorta region’s conversion from Charmat method to traditional method sparkling wine production. Barzanò’s late mother, Emanuela Barboglio – one of the founders of the Corsorzio Franciacorta – switched to making wine with secondary fermentation in bottle in 1979.

In 1995, Franciacorta became the first traditional method sparkling wine to be awarded DOCG status.

Now represented in the UK by Alivini, Mosnel has this year rebranded its range to mark its 37th tirage.