However, communication remains essential for an enterprise with such a diversity of interests. Included are our shareholderwine farmers who supply grapes, local and international customers, business associates, media and the entire wine world outthere. It is through this correspondence to all these interest groups that we want to ensure the window to uniWines Vineyards,our people and our world, remains open.
Yes, these days there are more communication tools than wine styles in a European supermarket chain. It's Twitter here andwebsites there; facebook up and Google down. But as it is with wine quality, identity and focus are more important thanvolume and quantity.
By way of this correspondence we therefore want to pierce these overloaded communication channels and share what ishappening at uniWines Vineyards.
Believe us, there’s plenty!
Wine drought
Over the past few weeks, the above mentioned communication channels have buzzed about the worldwide shortage of wine. The most popular figure quoted is 1,3bn bottles that currently exist, mainly as a result of poor crops in Europe caused by inclement weather conditions during the growth season and harvest.
As Mark Twain said, there are "lies, damned lies and statistics", so don't bet your last penny on the accuracy of this number. But at this point it remains a fact that the international marketplace is a little anxious about the availability of wine to service their various customers.Many South African wine cellars will be delighted by this situation considering the term "wine surplus" has too often been used in the recent past to describe the current state of affairs. New opportunities are however there to be grasped.
What is the opinion of uniWines Vineyards on this matter? Well, the company was established around stability, sustainability and unlocking value. This means loyalty towards current customers, and pricing that is sustainable over the long term and based on good relationships. And also – most importantly – the supply of top quality wine at the best prices in a way that offers value to our shareholder producers as well as the customer.
It's a mouthful, but in brief this means that uniWines Vineyards will not sneak into the gap to take advantage of expected shortages. Opportunities will undoubtedly be grasped, but without losing sight of long term growth and sustainability.