Sabotage Wines was founded in 2001 by the French winemaker David Baldet with the French style wines sourced from low yielding cool climate grapes from Victoria, in Australia. The principal customers are restaurants, wine bars and liquor stores. In this company, my mission was to sell the Sabotage wines, to promote its products, and to negotiate in direct liaison with my customers (face to face). I visited the places selected in order to seek new prospective customers... a very formative commercial mission!
In this report, I will describe the environment of my business in Australia and the general rules of the company in management, organization and marketing. Then I shall pass on to a more detailed description about my work at Sabotage, my mission, expectations and difficulties during this internship. Finally, I will delve into what I learnt on personal and professional bases during my internship.
Australia is the 5th biggest country in the producing wine world, with 13.6 hectolitres per year. The first ten wine producer countries in the world in the order: Italy, France, Spain, United States, Australia, Argentina, Germany, Portugal, Chile, and South Africa (origin: /Quid 2006).
To compare, the Australian consumer drinks 20.6 liters of wine annually, as against 59 liters in France and Italy, and 38 liters in Spain. In Argentina, a prolific wine producing country of the "new world", consumption has been pegged at 41 liters annually per consumer. Even the sake loving Japanese have been increasingly turning to wine.
The influence of the second wave of immigration in Australia made up of Italians, Greeks, Spaniards for whom the wine is an element of the traditional culture, was an essential factor for the surge in consumption. Moreover, the ageing of the population has tilted the statistics in favour of wine consumption. With concern mounting over general well being, health and weight, consumers are increasingly favouring wine in lieu of beer and spirits. Eight out of ten Australians drink wine in pubs and restaurants.
Consumption of wine is on the rise - Australians are traditionally beer drinkers. Beer drinking is an Anglo-Saxon tradition. In 1975, the average Australian drank 137 liters of beer annually, against a little less than 13 liters of wine. This situation changed considerably, in particular since the beginning of the decade. The ageing of the population and the role of the women in the work place reinforced the place of the wine. The media played a role in pushing up consumption by applauding the benefits of integrating wine for a healthier lifestyle. Wine tasting events, specialized magazines and viticultural tourism amplified curiosity and led to rise in wine consumption.
It is interesting to understand the wine strategy realized by Australians. In 1970, Australia produced only wines "of low range" and exported in small quantity its best type of grape varieties. Australian's vine growers have to compensate for their weak wine market by a collective will to conquer the world. So Australian have published (since 1996) their plans in a treaty of wine offensive strategy "Strategy 2025" (imitated by American with Wine Vision 2020) which aims to make this country, in thirty years, one of the largest wine countries in the world in terms of production.
[...] Sabotage Wines Made by French winemaker David Baldet, at a state of the art winery located in the Mornington Peninsula. The story behind the name started when David joined the winemaking team at Kooyong working alongside Peter. With his strong French accent and ability to attract trouble, David soon became known as the 'French saboteur'. Our Wine 'Barrel fermented' Sauvignon Blanc 2005 'barrel fermented' Handpicked grapes from 2 vineyards in Victoria, this wine is inspired from the style followed at Sancerre in the Loire Valley: 2/3 barrel & 1/3 tank fermentation with a 6 month French oak maturation period. [...]
[...] Australia would officially have vineyards of approximately 145,000 ha, and the area of Victoria accounts for a fifth of the national production. There are 22 distinct wine areas in Victoria, each with its own weather, soil and grape varieties. Australian wine regions Photo of vineyards in Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula (where Sabotage Wine is produced) benefits from the influence of the bays which surround it to offer a fresh and fruity wine. This area counts only small plots. The production is limited each year in order to easily sell their wines at the restaurants of Melbourne. [...]
[...] It is the best way of protecting a wine, to preserve it intact as it was at the time of the setting out of the bottle. The capsule has an advantage as in it can be closed again after use; one does not require a corkscrew and one can take along the bottle on a picnic or lay it down in the refrigerator without it leaking. This type of capsule is appropriate for white wines. In Australia, the screw capsule accounts for 30% of the national production today). [...]
[...] If the customer does not contact in the ten days (approximately) following the sales pitch, we can get back to him to ascertain for sure where he stands in regard to purchase of Sabotage products. The financial part and delivery of the goods did not concern me. The system was the same one for the wine bars as for the restaurants; my internship director gave me a mailing list and places to visit in order to seek out new customers. [...]
[...] - He defines the product to be proposed to the customers - He makes the follow-up of the sales - He establishes a marketing plan - He coordinates the promotional, advertising and commercial actions -He takes part in the choice of the style and the packaging of the product Human qualities: - He must be able to convince and defend his projects - To have good knowledge of the sale and to know what stimulates the sale of a product - The chief of product has the direction of the responsibilities and he must be organized - Curiosity, a good relational direction and good listening ability are assets - He must have quite concrete ideas and be able to synthesize the received information A multicultural population Australia is a unique mixture of population. [...]
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