Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

Ooh-la la! French wines for women know just how to seduce stylish British ladies

French wine specialists, wineSight, have arrived on British shores in the nick of time with the sublime Sublimelle (www.sublim-elle.fr) portfolio of middle- to premium-range wines for women. Exhibiting at the exclusive on-trade event, Wine+, in Olympia, London (16 to 17 January 2008), wineSight plans to showcase its carefully selected range of female-targeted wines to restaurateurs, caterers and bar managers with a passion for profits and pleasure.

Women of Great Britain prepare for a collective sigh of relief, as wineSight introduces its stylish and sophisticated range of French wines, under the Sublimelle brand, targeting stylish and sophisticated ladies.

•Finally, there's a company prepared to speak to women as wine connoisseurs and not winos.
•Finally, there's a company prepared to call time on a male-dominated wine market.
•Finally, there's a portfolio of high quality French wine targeting women who appreciate wine for what it really is – a pleasure to be enjoyed and experienced.

A team of professionals combining wine know-how and marketing expertise with export knowledge created Sublimelle by wineSight to address the individual preferences of women without relying on patronising and over-familiar marketing messages. There's no need for the jokes, images of distressed housewives or lingerie, which are so readily relied upon by other alcoholic drinks brands squarely aimed at women. Instead, wineSight prefers to let the wine do the talking.

Following numerous taste tests with women, 25 wines from key regions across France such as Bourgogne, Languedoc and Alsace, have been selected from an original list of 400, which were pre-selected by wineSight’s expert Frederic Auriol who has 20 years of wine industry experience. Sublimelle carries colourful but subtle labels providing straight-talking details such as brief tasting notes, food matching, and information about the origin of the grape variety.

The dumbing down of wine for women has thankfully come to the end of the line with the introduction of the Sublimelle range. Over the past year or so, brands for women has focused on making wine lower in calories, lower in alcohol and lower in flavour, despite the fact that more and more women have become interested in trading up to a higher quality glass of wine as a well-deserved indulgence.

We’ve all heard the statistics pointing to women buying and consuming more wine than men in many countries around the world. Studies have also proven that many women prefer smooth, supple and subtle wines offering a delicate combination of flavours, while men, especially before reaching ‘expert’ levels, tend to prefer full-bodied wines.

For women, the scent of the wine is crucial, while men focus on the palate. Women tend to seek the full wine experience: who we are with, what we are eating, and how we feel. Yet, the market continues to be dominated by brands aimed at men, alongside a handful of wines for women, many of which fall short of the mark when it comes to style, taste and finesse.

wineSight appreciates that there's no need to over-complicate matters: the French produce excellent wine; British women like to treat themselves to a delicious glass or two, and are impressed by taste rather than wine snobbery.

Currently, the wines are available for sale online at http://www.chateauselect.co.uk/SublimelleIntro.htm with no minimum order. Since the company’s arrival in Great Britain in November 2007, wineSight has developed relationships with some of the leading bars and restaurants in London, which are keen to capitalise on women’s increasing interest in higher quality wines on their night out.

wineSight aims to plug the huge gap in the on-trade market for stylish and sophisticated products for women that are free from snobbery and jargon - without the patronising marketing pitch. The brand Sublimelle is also proving popular with leading hotel chains and airlines as a way of reaching female customers with an exclusive and targeted offering. wineSight plans to be involved in a series of events more specifically dedicated to women from fashion shows to networking lunches and business conferences.

The premium portfolio will be available to sample at the Wine+ exhibition (stand 129) with the aim of increasing the variety and choice of wine for women in bars, restaurants and clubs across the country.

-Ends-

Notes to Editors
For more info about wineSight and the Sublimelle range of French wines, or to place an order, contact Yanis Taieb at yanis.taieb@winesight.fr or call +33 (0)3 85598033 / +33 (0)6 102441767. In the UK, contact Emma Delserieys at emma.delserieys@winesight.fr or call +44 (0) 7504951191.

For photography or further media information please contact Helen Lewis at helen@foodanddrinktowers.co.uk or call +44 (0) 2087711212 / +44 (0) 7904801669.
If you would like to attend the on-trade Wine+ exhibition at Olympia in London on January 16th or 17th 2008 please contact Helen Lewis. We can send you an invitation/guest pass in the post and also arrange a convenient time for you to speak with wineSight, try the wine and pick up a free bottle to take home and sample with family and friends.

Background to wineSight and Sublimelle
The 25-strong middle- to premium range of Sublimelle wines (http://www.sublim-elle.fr/) were first introduced into Great Britain by wineSight (www.winesight.fr) in November 2007. The wine portfolio is now available for purchase from the wineSight website from an individual bottle to as many as you can fit in your wine rack.

wineSight was created by a team of professionals combining know-how in wine and marketing, export knowledge, and design capability, backed by a family holding and investors.

wineSight’s ability covers the following fields:
•Wine selection targeting general or specific target segments.
•Creation of a marketing concept integrating wines into daily lives and lifestyles to match occasions and individual needstates.
•Establishment of a mix of marketing tools.
•Logistic operations to regroup wines from different regions into one location.

wineSight conducted worldwide wine market research including peer review of published studies and reports, as well as a detailed study of the evolution of wine consumption in 15 countries.

The analysis revealed the following insights, which have been used to create the foundations for the Sublimelle brand:
•Worldwide wine market volume sales are growing annually and we can point to a correlation between wine consumption and economic development.
•Worldwide market in value sales is, on average, rising three times quicker than volume. This is a result of the trend towards better quality wines along with the introduction of new consumers groups; more and more consumers are already connoisseurs or are willing to learn and discover new wines.
•The market encompasses long-standing producing markets and countries with a historically small consumer base (Northern Europe), new producers markets (US, Australia and New Zealand) and emerging markets (Japan, Korea and Taiwan). The female market share tends to rise above the male share in many countries (UK, US and Japan) and generates new trends (for example Chardonnay is hugely popular with women worldwide or rosé wines in France, Netherlands and UK). However, the marketing of wine remains very much oriented towards men.
•French wines suffer from a lack of modernity in term of packaging, labels and image. The complexity of the appellations and the difficulty of selection, especially in the middle-range products due to the heterogeneity of quality in a same area of production.

Numerous studies conducted by wine experts show that many women have a different approach to and appreciation of wine compared to most men.

The most recent experience was demonstrated by the renowned French gourmet guide called Gault & Millau (in 2007), which showed that women prefer smooth and supple wines and are impressed by more subtle flavours than full-bodied wines. wineSight’s numerous tasting sessions with women of a wide range of ages and professions allowed the company to better understand what women are looking for from wine, and appreciate the relationship they have with wine, for example, the occasion of consumption is more important for women than it is for men.

wineSight adopted five specific criteria governing the selection of its wines:

•The wines should combine subtlety and a variety of aromas with delicacy and elegance; delicious, harmonious sensations should linger in the mouth.
•The wines should be authentic and representative of their terroir (i.e. the physical and environmental characteristics of the vineyard, especially the soil and the viniculture tradition).
•They should be ready to drink rather than require ageing and storage.
•They should be equally enjoyable as an aperitif or as an accompaniment to a meal.
•They should take into account the consumers’ lifestyle and eating habits.

The Sublimelle brand represents the active modern woman combining numerous responsibilities and aware of the importance of me-time and self-indulgence. The website http://www.sublim-elle.fr was designed by French artist Lydie Calloud to match glamour and style with wines for a wide range of occasions from a romantic dinner to a girls’ night in to a business meeting.