Bocelli launches new Italian wine line

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli has launched a new line of high-end Italian wines with his brother Alberto. As reported on db.com, expanding production at his Tuscan estate, the classical singer has released a100% Sangiovese made from hand-harvested grapes from Morellino di Scansano, and an extra dry Prosecco in collaboration with leading Prosecco producer Trevisiol.

Bocelli has partnered with Seattle-based importer August Wine Group to import, sell and distribute the wines in the US and major international markets. Both wines have just launched in New York, Texas, Illinois, Washington and Oregon, priced at US$19.99 each, and will be available throughout the US by the end of August. Since 2006, August Wine Group has sold Bocelli's small-production wines under the company's boutique subsidiary Small Vineyards.

"When I return home after long trips, the joy that I receive from the taste of wine from my land is hard to match. It brings me back in time, to memories of my father, of him pouring the wine with a quasi-religious respect. I would give anything for him to see what has been accomplished in the past few years; I’m sure he'd be proud," Bocelli said.

“It’s exciting to be part of such a powerful brand, and to be associated with a family that is such a force for good in the world,” said August Wine Group co-founder and director Joshua Hanson. "We’ve had some really great feedback from the trade – we should easily reach our sales target of 20,000 cases this year,” he added.

Based in Lajatico in Tuscany, Bocelli Family Wines is a family-run company owned by Andrea and Alberto Bocelli. The Bocelli family has produced wine on their Tuscan estate for over 130 years. With renowned Tuscan winemaker Paolo Caciorgna at the helm, in addition to Prosecco and Sangiovese, the estate also produces In Canto Cabernet Sauvignon, Alcide – a Sangiovese/Cabernet blend, and Terre di Sandro old-vine Sangiovese.

Mood and wine matching

Forget food and wine matching, 2012 is all about mood and wine matching. Wine retailer Oddbins has launched a new website where customers can select wines according to their mood. As reported on thedrinksbusiness.com, the site features suggested wine pairings for times of passion, contemplation and even adversity, along with wines suited to staying in, going out, or celebrating.

After a bad date, the site suggests drowning your sorrows with a bottle of Morellino di Scansano Ventoso 2010, preferably while listening to Portishead. It also recommends “writing your life story” with the help of a bottle of Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2009 Nuiton-Beaunoy, and a zippy Quinta de Azevedo Vinho Verde 2010 while watching motor racing.

The quirky new site offers a music pairing for each of its wines, from Taylor Swift (above) with Montemar Malbec, and Elbow with Grange Des Roc Blancs 2009, to Abdullah Ibrahim “after a long birthday dinner” with Churchill’s 10 Year Old Tawny Port. For less mood-driven consumers, the site also features the more conventional categories of country, grape, price and style.

The retailer plans to increase the number of wines on the site from 100 to 500 in the coming weeks. "E-commerce is an extremely important part of the new Oddbins. The design and content of the new website is in keeping with the Oddbins philosophy of making wine as accessible as possible for consumers,” said managing director Ayo Akintola.

Love it or loathe it, Oddbins is at least making an effort to inject a bit of fun and humour into wine buying. Wine desperately needs to reach out to younger consumers, and music matching is an ideal way of making wine more appealing to a younger audience. Most of us pick wines to suit our mood, albeit subconsciously, in the same way a song will strike a chord one day and jar the next. I’ve yet to put the music and wine matching theory to the test – have any matches worked for you?