FTD.de »
Management + Karriere »
Business English »
Portugal tries to breathe new life into port wines
FTD-Serie: Serie Business English
Fehlt Ihnen im Englischen häufiger das treffende Wort? Kommen Sie trotz guter Vorsätze nicht dazu, ein Magazin oder Buch im Original zu lesen? Dann finden Sie hier interessante und vielfältige Lektüre aus der Financial Times - mit einem Glossar, das Ihnen auf die Sprünge hilft.
1 Bewertungen Schriftgröße: AAA
Business English: Portugal tries to breathe new life into port wines
A new hotel and a pink version of the drink are aimed at widening the vintage port wine appealThe warehouse is murky, the floor dirty and the smell vaguely musty. Just minutes away from the centre of Portugal's business capital stand hundreds upon hundreds of wooden barrels containing the future of one industry.
The port wine inside these lodges is made in a way that has hardly varied for more than 300 years. Nearby, a cellar houses vintages more than a century old.
Keeping alive such an old business that makes a single product can be a tricky thing. That is even more so with something as traditional as port, known for its peculiar traditions such as passing the fortified wine only to the left and asking about the Bishop of Norwich as a code to dislodge the decanter from a hogger.
But in the heart of Vila Nova de Gaia, the town on the opposite side of the river to Porto where all the main producers store the fortified wine, the cranes towering over the skyline point to a bold attempt to keep a port business up-to-date. Nestled among the port lodges on the banks of the river Douro is a new luxury hotel, which the Fladgate Partnership, best known for its Taylor's and Fonseca ports, is set to open in the summer.
The EUR32.5m, 82-bed Yeatman hotel is all the more extraordinary because little is being built or invested in Portugal at the moment as the country strains under a huge debt burden. "Yes, we clearly want to increase the appeal of port to consumers," says Adrian Bridge, head of Fladgate. "But this is also a project of national importance."
His argument goes that Porto, with its position right on the Atlantic and the faded grandeur of its buildings, is a prime tourist location but one that lacks a destination hotel. The focus will not just be on port but on all local wines. There will even be a wine spa, where guests can get a grape face mask or a pip rub.
This comes on top of the introduction of an organic port and then three years ago of a pink port - unthinkable to the purists, perhaps, but popular chilled with younger consumers. Mr Bridge says one of Croft Pink's biggest customers is a Houston restaurant that serves it as slushy iced drink. "What it's doing is introducing new people to port. Port can be a little bit daunting for new people," he admits.
It is a tricky balance. Few 300-year-old companies are still around in their original form. Iron and trading companies have become truckmakers (MAN) and general retailers (Haniel). Even Fladgate started off as a wool company before turning to port at the end of the 17th century.
But that longevity with a single product means that too much innovation could upset the traditionalists. The three rooms under Fladgate's headquarters contain thousands of bottles of vintage port - unlike pink port, the stuff its reputation will be made on. Nick Heath, Fladgate's marketing director, says a few years ago managers said to themselves: "We have got a very traditional category with a lot of heritage. Is it really something that younger drinkers can relate to?"
Pink and innovative
Attempts to produce a pink port ran into difficulties. Portuguese legislation (since changed) made it illegal to produce a proper rosé port, so Fladgate made the wine the traditional way with a few differences to get the colour right and labelled it "Pink". "Innovation is difficult in an industry this old," says Mr Bridge.
Instead, much of the focus now is on educating new customers on how to drink port. So while port and cheese make for a good combination in Canada, they don't in Germany where Käse is a breakfast food.
The differences between a 20-year-old tawny and a ruby can tax even port lovers, but for Mr Bridge, explaining them to consumers in new markets such as Russia and Asia is vital: "The whole word of wine has expanded and is massive. We are on a bigger stage and have to work harder."
The hotel is playing its part in that quest but unsurprisingly for a company that is more than 300 years old, Mr Bridge doesn't see its success as a short-term issue: "This is an investment for the long term," he says.
- 1
- 2
-
30.04.2010
© 2010 Financial Times Deutschland
Suche in der FTD-Personendatenbank
16°C
7°C
65
%
14°C
20
%
10°C
75
%
12°C
35
%
Home |
Unternehmen |
Finanzen |
Börse |
Politik |
Management+Karriere |
IT+Medien |
Wissen |
Sport |
Auto |
Lifestyle |
zum Seitenanfang
© 1999 - 2010 Financial Times Deutschland
Aktuelle Nachrichten über Wirtschaft, Politik, Finanzen und Börsen
Börsen- und Finanzmarktdaten:
Bereitstellung der Kurs- und Marktinformationen erfolgt durch die Interactive Data Managed Solutions AG. Es wird keine Haftung für die Richtigkeit der Angaben übernommen!
Über FTD.de | Impressum | Datenschutz | Disclaimer | Mediadaten | E-Mail an FTD | Sitemap | Hilfe | Archiv
Mit ICRA gekennzeichnet
VW | Siemens | Apple | Gold | MBA | Business English | IQ-Test | Gehaltsrechner | Festgeld-Vergleich | Erbschaftssteuer
G+J Glossar
Partner-Angebote
© 1999 - 2010 Financial Times Deutschland
Aktuelle Nachrichten über Wirtschaft, Politik, Finanzen und Börsen
Börsen- und Finanzmarktdaten:
Bereitstellung der Kurs- und Marktinformationen erfolgt durch die Interactive Data Managed Solutions AG. Es wird keine Haftung für die Richtigkeit der Angaben übernommen!
Über FTD.de | Impressum | Datenschutz | Disclaimer | Mediadaten | E-Mail an FTD | Sitemap | Hilfe | Archiv
Mit ICRA gekennzeichnet
VW | Siemens | Apple | Gold | MBA | Business English | IQ-Test | Gehaltsrechner | Festgeld-Vergleich | Erbschaftssteuer
G+J Glossar
Partner-Angebote