Tuesday, July 15, 2008

ShipCompliant's Free Temperature Forecasting Tool Enables Wine Shippers to Comply with Mother Nature's Rules

BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ShipCompliant announced today that it has launched a custom temperature forecasting tool for protecting wine shipments. The latest addition to an innovative free tool suite from ShipCompliant is now available for any winery or wine retailer to use on the ShipCompliant website at http://www.shipcompliant.com/free-tools/.
Source: Six88 Solutions

Temperature forecasting has long been a problem for wineries and wine shippers. Hot temperatures during the delivery process can negatively impact the quality of the wine upon delivery and, more importantly, for cellaring. Visibly damaged bottles cost wineries in returned shipments and replacement shipment, and customer satisfaction. However, a greater threat comes from the reputation hit that occurs when wine that is not initially recognized as damaged by the recipient, is cellared, and when finally consumed, is below customer expectations.

ShipCompliant’s temperature tool allows a winery to set thresholds on temperatures at which they want their shipments out for delivery, to see resulting destinations to which they should and shouldn’t ship, and ultimately to filter shipment files for zip codes with forecasted temperatures within the thresholds, prior to sending to fulfillment. This process that has previously been completely manual and extremely time consuming can now be completed in a few easy steps.

"We gave a sneak-preview to about 350 people, including over 150 ShipCompliant customers at our third annual direct shipping seminar and users conference on Friday," said ShipCompliant CEO Jason Eckenroth. "The reception of the temperature forecasting tool was remarkable. Our fulfillment partners and winery and wine retailer partners can't wait to get their hands on this technology. The free tool is a great proof of concept and will be extremely valuable to all wine shippers, but we'll really be able to leverage this technology within the ShipCompliant application, where our 1,800 users can take advantage of automated weather holds and releases and exercise unprecedented control over their shipping."

About ShipCompliant:

ShipCompliant is the leading compliance and fulfillment management software solution for wineries and wine retailers, providing 100% accurate compliance checks on orders, auto-populated state direct shipping and tax reports, and many other efficiencies associated with address validation, carrier integration, and accurate tax collection. ShipCompliant's technological infrastructure allows it to easily integrate with other software systems across all steps of the chain between winery and end consumer resulting in easy workflows and time savings for winery staff. To view a demo of the system and see how wineries and retailers are saving time and money, please go to http://www.shipcompliant.com/demo or call toll free at 888-449-5285.

MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=5731235
Contact:
ShipCompliant
Media Contact:
Elizabeth Hause, 303-996-2344

New Line Of Red Bordeaux

COOKWARE CO. INTRODUCES "STEPHANIE" NAPA WINES

Stanley Cheng, ceo of Meyer Corporation has announced the launch of "Stephanie," a new line of red Bordeaux varietal wines from his family's Hestan Vineyards in Napa Valley. Meyer Corp manufactures Circulon, Anolon, Farberware and KitchenAid cookware.

The debut release includes the 2005 Stephanie Red Bordeaux Blend (940 cases $65), 2005 Stephanie Cabernet Sauvignon (930 cases $50) and 2005 Stephanie Merlot (475 cases $40). Named for Stanley and Helen Cheng's only daughter, whose concert harp is etched in gold on the bottle, Stephanie wines are made by consulting winemaker Jeff Gaffner (Saxon Brown, Black Kite, Xtant) using all five of the red Bordeaux varietals planted to Hestan Vineyards.

Wine & Spirits Daily

TESCO TO SELL £3 WINE BOTTLES

UK retailers have made things rather difficult for the likes of Diageo, Constellation and other alcohol companies by imposing huge discounts on alcoholic beverages in their stores and launching private label brands that cost next to nothing. Things were starting to look better once the government got involved over binge drinking concerns, but now Tesco plans to sell a bottle of wine at the same price as a glass in some pubs and restaurants. The chain says it is considering adding wine to its "Value" range, which means it could cost as little as £2.99 a bottle.

In recent years wine companies were forced to sell their brands much cheaper than normal to compete against private labels in UK retail shops. Constellation chief Rob Sands commented in the company's last conference call that the situation in the UK had improved. But are things about to get bad again? The Scottish government has already claimed such a move by Tesco "strengthens the case for government action to stamp out irresponsible promotions and pricing."

The Value wine also comes five months after Tesco said it wanted to work with the UK government on new laws to ensure the responsible pricing of alcohol following widespread concern that cheap alcohol is fueling binge drinking and crime.

Tesco's Dan Jago, director of the beer, wine and spirits division, says the chain's plans are a reaction to the credit crunch rather than any attempt to create a new alcohol price war with its rivals. Tesco already as Value brand beers and spirits and believes wines are a natural extension.

Tesco's Dan Jago said: "In the current climate it would be mad if we weren't exploring the value end as part of our ongoing review. We are inventing what our entry-level wines look like to offer the best quality and tastes that are great for the price.

"If customers say they want less expensive wines, we'll make sure we have them. Just because a customer is not paying £6 does not mean they don't deserve a quality wine."

Wine & Spirits Daily

Cazes: Bordeaux wine tourism is the future

The city of Bordeaux should become a cultural centre of wine, Sylvie Cazes, the new president of the UGCB, has said.

Cazes has just become the 7th president – and the first female head – of the Union des Grands Crus Classes de Bordeaux.

She is also president of the board at Chateau Lynch-Bages and the Cazes family wine holdings, and also sits on the Bordeaux City Council.

In a wide-ranging interview in the September issue of Decanter magazine Cazes says she is keen to increase promotional activities by taking wine events direct to the consumer.

To this end she will explore how wine tourism concepts such as the Relais & Châteaux Cordeillan-Bages hotel, the restored village of Bages with its bistro, bakery, wine store and art workshops, tour companies and wine schools can be extended.

On the city council she will be working alongside mayor Alain Juppé to raise the profile of wine, promoting wine wine tourism projects and promoting economic links between wine and the city of Bordeaux.

'It is absolutely essential to take consumers into our world, to show how for us wine is part of a wider lifestyle, and to create loyalty. Our customers need to be confident that they can rely on us.'

But she admits the Bordelais can sometimes be difficult to persuade to take part in promotional activities.

'The producer should get involved… but the difficulty is in finding the time. Many don't want to work weekends. But if you do things with the consumer, you have to do them when the consumer wants.'

Above all, Cazes says she is looking forward with relish to her immersion in the politics of the UGCB.

'My father was mayor of Pauillac for 40 years so it has been part of my background to be surrounded by politics.'

Adam Lechmere