It is time to visit Russia, more specifically Perm which is located on the slopes of the Urals and is considered the last city in Europe. While the whole world is sure that Europe ends in Perm, its inhabitants are convinced of the opposite: Europe is just beginning here. A mixture of ethnics and different somatic traits, contrasted traditions. Perm, place of refuge of Tsar Michail Romanov, an inspiration for Pasternak in his Doctor Zhivago where Perm hides behind the name of the city Jurjatin and also place of the Soviet gulags, is unique in its style and history. Čechov defined Perm very boring and too hot in summer, we defined it as fascinating, almost addictive and in the middle of two contrasting Europe. Perm was a very important industrial center in the past. According to local legend, the inhabitants of the Russian city of Perm had salty ears. Being an industrial capital near some of the largest metal and salt mines, it was said that the workers had taken to Perm so many bags of salt behind them that a salty layer had stuck to their skin. However, for some years the city has been striving to get rid of this image of industrial capital of Russia to obtain a new recognition: to be the capital of culture. But we ask ourselves, can a powerful industrial city, full of factories and forests, become the brilliant capital of literature, music and contemporary art? The inhabitants of Perm are sure of their strengths and their cultural heritage, so they use all their skills to achieve this goal. They proudly exhibit their wooden gods or bronze medallions in "animal style", claiming their indigenous ancestry. We also toured the city with an illustrious guide, the collaborator of the University of Perm, Alexander Shchepetkov, a wise geographer and a lover of Soviet architecture and literature, an art enthusiast in all its manifestations, a a multifaceted man, so brilliant that we were completely spellbound by his stories, so much that we do not want to end this wonderful journey together. We discover the city until its secrets and more recondite anecdotes, wanting to get lost in so much culture and mystery.
Natalya Troyanova, Manager of Semya supermarket chains, gave us a unique opportunity, the possibility of knowing the city and its origins, and after this inexplicable journey, Natalya took us to visit Semya's largest supermarkets, in different parts of Perm. We were speechless when we noticed that every 400 meters there was a Semya supermarket, almost all open 24 hours. We were also impressed to see that this so young Manager, directed a special affection and helped us impeccably in our visits and master class with an innate sweetness and passion for her extraordinary job. The role of Manager Galina Aristova was the most fundamental. She was like the director of a concert that takes place in a wonderful theater, she marked the times and the duration of our explanations, due to our busy schedule. A determined, pragmatic woman who did not stay calm until she heard the last word of our presentation, only at that moment she relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.
Our presence was important for the formation of the team of store managers about the cava culture, its origin, its elaboration process our regulatory regulations and our classifications, in comparison from the point of view of elaborating other products like the Schaumweine of Germany and the Prosecco. Russians are always curious, always well informed and previously ready for all situations. Russia is a country where culture is a central component in the lives of people, you only need to see the amount of theaters and museums frequented by schools with very young children.
We carried out our presentations using our audiovisual materials, our power point presentations and …a lot of fun and empathy with the audience of participants. Semya is a reference, We would almost say a lifestyle. People walk through the streets with ecological bags of straws, as if they feel represented by the philosophy of this enterprise. The sales team works with many promotions, taking care of the range of products up to the last detail.
As regards the promotion of wines and cavas, they dispose of an online list. The sommelier and expert Evgenij Sazonov together with Yulia Shipiguzova deals with the most important decision: to choose wines. The option of having the online letter is not at all banal. Consumers are between 23 and 50 years old and very often use their mobile phones and computers, so they prefer to rely on technology, avoiding paper abuse and having less impact on the environment and avoiding the incentive to alcohol consumption at all times. The most successful cava for the clients, according to a market study, turn out to be our semi dry Lacrima Baccus (women adore the sweet aromas), Heretat de Lacrima Baccus and Summum brut and in all the stores, they are ALWAYS on the front line, with a good visibility, reason of pride for our winery. Following our program, we visited, with much encouragement in the heart and little in the body, due to the -8 degrees, two restaurants of high standard of the city which are called Chin chin and Gastroport, two MUST of the city. The attendees to our presentations left the restaurants with very good feelings and, above all, with happy memories of our visit. This trip in a city perhaps forgotten by tourists, has opened our eyes about the different facets of Russia, about its inhabitants, great lovers of bubbles and about its expansive and warm behavior, the opposite of the typical Russian climate, very cold and penetrating. We cannot wait so long, we would like to come back very soon and describe more.
Everything began on 10th of October in New York with the APVSA's mission of penetration of the US market, alone, but accompanied by our most characteristic and representative cavas, which seem to take shape and keep us company in the moments of long and exhausting journeys. Sometimes, it seems that our cavas have a soul of their own and that with the tinkle, caused by the movement of the bottles, they want to communicate their enthusiasm in our adventure.
New York, a city that captivates us every time we cross its trafficked streets, between the beauty of the apex of the Empire State Building, the imposing Flatiron Building, the labyrinthine Rockefeller Centre, the magnificence of the Statue of Liberty, the endless avenue Broadway and the romantic Brooklyn Bridge, which was crossed for the first time by President Chester Arthur, Governor Grover Cleveland and Emilie Roebling, wife of the son of the first chief engineer of the project. It was thanks to the reins of this woman that the work was completed, facing the prevailing machismo at the time.
In this frenetic, cosmopolitan and philanthropic environment, our team had the opportunity to meet many distributors ... the results? Very good acceptance by many distributors, some being astonished by the elegant and refined sumptuousness and integration of the bubbles, others more skeptical, showing difficulties to understand how to propose the cava as a product in its preparation, complexity and origin.
The second stop was in the city of Chicago, home to the wind, blues and jazz music and skyscrapers. Mark Twain wrote: "It is impossible for an occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago, and it grows and develops faster than the prophecies concerning it." More than a century later, his words still sound very real.
Among distributors, influencer and blogger we felt very comfortable and well accepted, seeing even more possibilities of entrance in the market.
Next stop was Miami, the charming city of relax and fun, an international financial and cultural centre.
Being a centre of cultural and linguistic links between North America, South America and the Caribbean, it is also called "the capital of the Americas". For Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams it was a place to be calm and relaxed, thanks to its tropical climate and its Caribbean beaches, but also an inspiration. Not in vain, Hemingway wrote his only novel written in the United States, “To Have and Not to Have”, in a beautiful little house in Spanish colonial style.
The dynamics of market penetration here were a little more different. Our team, very motivated by the warm and sunny days and the proximity of the people, who made this city take a piece of our hearts, visited many restaurants and specialized shops, due to the high tourism of the city. Armed with patience and vigour of spirit, with the enthusiasm of those, who always want to obtain the best results, we get good future prospects, apart from the memories of all those who devoted their time to taste and understand our products.
A simply unforgettable trip. The human kind intrigues us in its totality and complexity, we enjoy the fact that people know us, but even more we enjoy the privilege of finding these people who by fatalist chance cross our ways. During this process of knowledge we talk to them not only about our products, but also, moved by the typical natural inclination, about our experience, our lives...
The end of the harvest is the end of a great emotional tension.
The grapes are now in the tanks, ready to ferment and we know that it is time to clean the tools used to harvest and let them rest, for a year, in a remote corner of the cellar and rinse the boxes stained red, because of the skins of the harvested red grape. The collection is one of those instants that stops time and marks it. End of August, September and October are months of frenetic pace and intense work. The tractors decelerate and move at a slow and linear pace crossing the main roads. In this time everything is permitted, even the most demanding drivers, are less intransigent and patient because, although in a hidden and inexpressive way, the hearts of people are sensitive to beauty and the revealing power of nature, which again, has delighted with the fruits of his land.
The end of the harvest is a celebration and, at the same time, a theatrical performance imbued with poetry. The oenologist, with his experience, is the orchestra conductor of this great "pièce" that reached the end, and the winemakers and technicians are the dancers of this pantomime, who, with their repetitive and agitated movements, arrive at the apotheosis moment: the end, the confrontation and the manifestation of the evidence of what happened in the vineyards.
Nowadays, differently from what happened in the past, in the collective imagination the end of the harvest is experienced as a moment of change: the prodigious transformation of solid matter into precious liquid, after fatigue to achieve it.
The winery returns now to its calm, the fermentations advance in an apparent immobility that hides a deep mystery (it is only at the end of this process that we can have a real idea of the harvest), the vineyard begins its deserved rest with its already golden leaves and the sunset advances every day more.
The responsible work carried out by our brilliant team, previously carried out and mainly aimed at preserving the health and future development of our ecological vineyards, allowed us to collect a large part of the productive potential of these. The grapes reached the correct degree of maturity, enjoying good health: in fact, the samples analyzed were considered adequate for the production of outstanding base wines for the consequent obtaining of excellent Cava Reserva. Our celler obtained a good quality of Garnacha, Macabeo, Pinot Noir and Xarello, although the Parellada variety had less production in terms of quantity, showing itself, in any case, well structured and with a good potential to develop.
Hungarian culture is one of the richest cultures known in Europe. Hungary is a nation that for decades has been supervised by the Soviet influence, but nowadays, freed from this heavy burden, it is a very proud Country, which wants to show the world its tradition and its folklore, without forgetting to announce the magnificence of its cultural and artistic heritage.
The mission organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Terrassa and planned by the expert in International Trade Montse Llimos Torres had a positive feedback and we obtained discrete results. In addition to our team, a Novell coffee commercial and a commercial of industrial machine joined the market’s mission in Hungary.
Keep in mind that Hungary is a very difficult market to penetrate; we have to consider that strategically, it deals with a very central key-country that borders Austria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. For our brand is crucial to be present, but we should bear in mind that, apart from its political situation, Hungary is a quite protectionist country. The most important sectors in this country are the secondary and tertiary sector (machinery, services, technology).
As far as the wine sector is concerned, it should be noted that in the last years, Hungary has experienced a gradual growth, but also a reduction in the volume of imports and an increase in exports, being a reference country in the wine sector with its production of Tokaji. The Hungarian government and the companies themselves invest in advertising campaigns and use different means to attract attention to local wines.
The price factor for the Hungarian market is decisive and it is considered that the quality-price ratio of Spanish wine is better than that of Hungarian; at this point, we can affirm that Spanish wine is more competitive and we have to take advantage from this. Another reason for the presence of Spanish wines is the fact that it considerably increases the offer in a country where wine is a traditionally part of gastronomy. The Spanish white wines are emerging in recent years compared to the consolidated red wines, especially those from the Rioja appellation of origin.
Cava is a slightly delicate product to treat, since Germany and Austria are the biggest importers and since sparkling wines are produced there. Anyway, our export team met different distributors of the capital, proposing its brand and explaining exhaustively the product portfolio, and especially its vision and business values.
We patiently wait for feedback from them, after having sent our products as samples!
On behalf of the entire export team, we thank for the attention received during the cocktail at the Zenit hotel in Budapest in honor of our presence at the mission. Major Sandor from the Economic and Commercial Office of the Embassy of Spain in Hungary took care of the organization of our agenda with professionalism and patience, the market analyst Tibor and the commercial economic advisor of the Embassy of Spain in Budapest Susana de Ibarrondo Guerrilla Echevarria were unique and nice.
