This is time to make London protagonist of our blog and more specifically, it is time to speak about our distributor Ellis of Richmond the star of these days. We already talked about its history and its foundation in a previous news of our trip, which took place last year.
In a Victorian environment, overloaded with antique furniture of unmistakable style, floral upholstery and immense crystal lamps that illuminate the rooms with a faint and very pleasant light, every year the event of our importer took place in the Vintner’s Hall of the Vintners Palace. This place received its first recognition in 1363 and is nowadays the ideal place to celebrate a classy, refined and exclusive event.
It is worth mentioning the royal decree that was signed in 1973 authorizing this institution to regulate the consumption of wine, delegating important responsibilities such as teaching the consumer to drink properly and in the healthy measures wines, champagnes and cavas in order to spread the culture of wine.
Very often, in this palace courses and events are organized to approach the winemaking tradition in an environment that, without doubt is the reincarnation of the desire of all English to enjoy high quality products in the company of the exponents of sensational wineries such as AB Valley, DFJ Vinhos, Kellerei Kaltern Caldaro, Vignetti Le Monde, Cantina Gorgo,Cantina Crociani, Monte Faustino, Donatella Colombini, Cantine Umberto Bortolotti, Wairau River Family Vineyards, Paulett Wines, David Bruce, Markham Valley, Chono Wines, Backsberg Estate, De Wetshof Estate, Bluebell Vineyards, Lestapis, Lucien Boillot, Domaine de l’Amandine, Champagne AR Lenoble, Château d’Esclans, Jean Baptiste Adam, Caves Languedoc Roussillon, Lorgeril, Chamoagne Lombard, Noelia Bebelia, Bodegas Resalte de Peñafiel, Bodegas Taron, Fincas de Azabache, y Hacienda el Ternero…and obviously Mont Marçal.
Our collaboration with Ellis of Richmond continues for years with excellent results, new challenges, and good expectations between the precision and the strong sense of responsibility and hard work typical of British people and the passionate nature of our land and our precious denomination of origin.
The event lasted two days, on 5th and 6th of February, on a Tuesday and on a Wednesday, ideal days for restaurateurs, managers, professionals and apprentices not to miss this essential appointment. The influx of visitors is amazing, more than 600 people who, visiting our stand, have been transported to the beauty and peace of our vineyards, between the fresh air of the hills that surround us, between the sea breeze that reaches our farmhouse, breathing the Mediterranean essence of our environment and the perfume of our land.
Mont Marçal Reserva, with its freshness and aromatic intensity, Mont Marçal Rosado, with a touch of roses and jasmine and Extremarium with its complexity and its creaminess are the stars of the festival.An event that we will remember with nostalgia, in a great city. Yes, because London creates dependency. While we visited the city, immersing ourselves in its traditions and breathing its history, we met on the street different kind of people and we were attracted mainly by the speeches they make and their open mind.
London sometimes seems like a lion roaring in front of your face that wants to scare you, stop you and throw you back. If you are not willing to let yourself go and be tolerant and open minded, you will not appreciate this city and you will not fit in with the frenetic pace that characterizes it and you will end up feeling disoriented, excluded, isolated in the midst of millions of people.To fully experience the wonderful London you have to have a natural predisposition, courage, put a lot of effort and passion in understanding and appreciating the human race and you will need a lot of energy and be ready to see many rapid changes, as fast as a pedestrian who goes to work crossing the street among thousands of cars that follow their path with speed.
London is a city that transmits feelings, this is a fact, feelings that you live in every corner, because to visit this city you do not need meticulous preparations, just wanting to get lost, to learn and be willing to live with different nationalities: the Bangladesh taxi driver, the Italian who prepares pizzas with all his art, the Moroccan who works in his supermarket open 24 hours or the real Englishman who goes to work thinking about everything he will have to do during the day and waiting for his tea-break.
Our export team flew to Southern California in order to give commercial support to the sellers.
The first day we were very animated in the company of Mark, from Wine Warehouse who with his energetic attitude and entrepreneurial spirit, accompanied us to visit restaurants and shops in the areas bordering Los Angeles. The feedback turned out to be very positive and the cava, as we realized during the last trips, is a product that finally starts to have a good status.
The following day, in company of Danielle, who visited our winery two years ago during the periodic visit that Classical wines organizes each year and who hosts pleasant memories of our winery, we toured restaurants and end customers. The day is much more intense than the previous one, visiting a total of 6 wineries and restaurants. The interest was very high and the questions were very frequent and specific. The implicated areas were Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Downtown, a potential market for our brand and the embodiment of our desire that finally becomes reality.
The days followed with an increasingly intense agenda and this motivated us and made us even more pretentious and hopeful.
Between clients and clients, we found different situations and scenarios to consider. A restaurant was intrigued with our products and passed a command at the time of the visit; other customers remained faithful to their Prosecos and are immovable.
Later, we moved to Orange Country to spend a day working with Edward, discovering every corner of the spot and getting to know the inhabitants up close. This county is one of the pristine areas of the United States. An always-sunny place, full of breathtaking views of the ocean and rich of attractions for all ages.
In one of our routes, we met the owner of an Italian restaurant that serves our Extremarium cava and he is so much satisfied with our products that he would like to expand its range with new references.
There is no doubt that Orange County is a key for us being a tourist and family place, we do not forget that it has the Disneyland Park. Among characters such as Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo and Mikey mouse, and restaurants where meals are organized with the best-known characters, we organized a tasting of our products. It was something sensational and in special and sometimes strange company!
The last day is propaedeutic and served as a training for the Wine Warehouse team that consists of 20 workers with a subdivision in Sothern team and Northern team. Our intention was to clarify and explain the process of elaborating a cava, since not everyone has knowledge of the traditional method of production and enter more specifically about our range of cavas.
This business trip was surely unique in its kind and incomparable. Summing up we can firmly affirm that the US market is receiving our products very positively and openly, the outlook is very versatile and the interest and desire to try new products, experience new sensations and pairings and the value of quality, is very great.
Despert began to import wine in Belgium after the First World War.
Of course, at the dawn of the company, the focus was much more towards the importation of French wines, but the new members of Despert also challenged themselves by starting to deal with wines from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Chile and South Africa, a challenge for them!
Our team has maintained with them for years a relationship of trust, professionalism and true friendship, every time they visit us or we visit their land, the treatment is the most enviable of all. One of the last events we attended was a promotion action. For us Despert is a great central figure for what is the Belgian market, always loyal to ou Extremarium range.
Our intense but pleasant journey started very early in the morning, where the event allowed us to attend the stands of different wineries to meet and taste the products offered, not only from those wineries that were present at the event, but also from those that did not have representatives there. Consumers had in this way the possibility to taste 200 wines among which our cavas.
Extremarium Brut Reserva and Extremarium Brut Nature Rosado competed with Spumante, Cremant, South Africa sparkling wine and Champagne.
Our Extremarium was of great interest. This cava is the fruit of our vineyards, where we breathe a fresh and healthy air, in an area characterized by an intact bucolic landscape, where the land is prepared to receive every year the fruits of the vines in its belly. An environment where the crunch of the leaves, the song of the birds and the noise of the fatigue of the vintners, who work tirelessly these lands, take visitors from these parcels to another dimension. A remote dimension to the frenetic pace of cities and the stress of everyday life. A cava, which is a hymn to the little joys of life that are made of unforgettable moments in the company of our loved ones.
Statistics show that the rosé version of the Extremarium cava has been one of the best-selling products. The fact of participating next to the sparkling products was positive and of good impact facing our cava. Analyzing the success of the event and listening with great attention to the feelings and reflections of the participants, we believe it is possible to increase our product range in Despert and participate with other references. We hope our next planned trip will arrive soon.
Belgium for us is a culturally very advanced country, where visitors are taken cared and pampered. Homeland of intense history, rich of beautiful medieval cities, varied cuisine and vibrant atmosphere of its streets. The inhabitants know how to live in a simple way, enjoying nature and this makes them very inclines to our business philosophy.
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