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Company Wine Boutiques
This year, the Whitehall celebrates the 15th anniversary of its founding in 1992 and ever since the company has remained the largest selected wines and spirits importer in Russia over these years. It was the Whitehall that opened up the cognac market in Russia at the beginning of the 1990’s with famous brand name cognacs like Camus, Remy Martin and Martell making up our portfolio. However, in 1994 we replaced those imports with Hennessy, which quickly became the number one selling imported cognac in Russia. Nowadays, over one million bottles of Hennessy are sold annually, thereby occupying 40% of Russia’s cognac market. Additionally, this is not the only instance where the Whitehall takes a leading role. Back in 1992 when the majority of Russian consumers were still in the dark about wines from the “New World”, we had already started importing wines from California. In 1994 we introduced Russia’s consumers to Chilean wines (we were the driving force in opening up the imported Chilean wine market in Russia) and by the end of the 1990’s we were importing Argentinean wines. Back in the early 2000’s we had decided on expanding into European wine imports and worked out our own concepts in developing collections for French, Italian and Spanish wines, while opening this region’s wines to the consumer once again. The New World collection obtained unique new additions from New Zealand and Australia. All these wines were incorporated into one of the most unique trade collection in Europe known as the Wine Collection. In 2002 we pulled off a revolutionary project when we put out the world’s only vintage vodka under the Kauffman brand name. Lastly but most significantly in 2006 we formed a joint venture with Moet Hennessy, a world leading elite wine and spirits producer, strengthening these brands’ market positions champagne Krug, Veuve Clicquot, Moet & Chandon and Hennessy cognac. Not only is the Whitehall a pioneer in its field but it is also broad-based enterprise which can be seen in the fact that its operations cover all price ranges and all categories of consumers. Our stock includes liberally-priced wines, like the Chilean brand Sunrise alongside world-famous brands like Hennessy, Krug and Dom Perignon, elite Burgundy wine-makers like Armand Rousseau and Dujac and Australian blue chips Hensñhke and Giaconda. Our belief is that the Russian consumer should have possibility to purchase the finest wines and spirits available on the international market. In striving to make this possibility available to Russian consumers, while creating a wine collection, we have made sure that each product in each price category offers the finest in quality and value. Our motto is that if you’re honest with the customer, you’re honest with yourself. We take pride in selling wines like Sunrise for 5 euros, while selling the most expensive for 500 euros, in other words we believe in an honest price for wines made with honest work. In order to better find out what the consumer wants and to quickly and captivatingly inform the consumer about all new company products, we decided to create our own retail project. In 2003 the Whitehall opened its first wine boutique under the Kauffman brand name. Currently our business has expanded and we now have three wine boutiques operating in Moscow and two in St. Petersburg. Not only are we happy to offer you the best products available from Dr. Mark Kaufman and his team’s worldwide selection, but we are also happy to enlighten and attract the customer to the wonders the wine world has to offer. The Whitehall’s assortment of wines can be divided into four groups:
For the very first time, in 2000, the Whitehall introduced the Russian market to Wine Collection – a carefully selected collection, consisting of the finest wines that wine-makers of the world have to offer. The company’s president Dr. Mark Kaufman, Academicien de l’Academie Internationale de la Viticulture et la Viniculture, designed this collection and personally guarantees the finest quality of all beverages the company has to offer. That’s why the Wine Collection logo on every bottle in the collection is a key feature for the consumer, guaranteeing the most full-bodied taste at a reasonable price with impeccable quality. In the collection, the wines and spirits made available are from several wine-making regions of the world. After extensively analyzing literature, tasting and comparing the appraisals by the world’s most influential experts, Mark Kaufman and his specialists chose the best samples from each of these regions which signify that these are not beverages that are in style but are made for the genuine connoisseur. Moreover, outstanding Bordeaux wine comprise part of the selected collection (including obscure manors) the best yield in the last 20 years; wines from 30 of the best regions and two top Burgundy merchant houses; the most famous wines of the Rhone and the Alsace; the best wines of Italy (including the two foremost names in Piedmont – Bruno Giacosa and Poderi Colla), Spain and Germany, and wines from Chile, Argentina and California. The Êauffman Ñollection implies superior quality wines selected for its collection, based on the following characteristics: Wines from all these regions – with the exception of Bordeaux and two or three name brands - are being offered for sale for the first time in the Russian Federation. These small-scale wineries don’t sell their wines on the open market (that is higher demand isn’t offset by higher prices and as a result demand outpaces supply). Taking into account the scant volume of production which is 500-5000 cases per year (for comparison take Chateau Margaux or Chateau Mouton Rothschild which turns out 25-30,000 cases per year), wine exports to each individual country are set within a quota framework and the producer personally determines the importer. Therefore, the name brand – Êauffman Ñollection – on the collection itself stands for the premier guarantee of the best-selected wines and we are proud to offer this rare collection in Russia. Regarding Bordeaux wines, this situation is quite different, with rare exception Bordeaux wines are traded on the open (merchant) market. Moreover, we are not talking about older wines (rare wine owing to the fact of the insignificance of the untouched dregs – i.e. 1982 was an outstanding year). Anyone can buy and import Bordeaux wines and it’s quite clear that the names of the best Chateaus are well known to buyers yet the presence of the collection’s symbol raises objections from some. Nevertheless, here are some important nuances. Given that anyone can buy up and import these wines, this essentially sparks fierce competition among vendors, as they try to buy such wines at the lowest possible prices. A huge parallel Bordeaux wine market exists worldwide where price can be 50% lower than the genuine one. Obvious counterfeits are circulated on these markets. Downright spoiled and counterfeit wines from deluged cellars were confiscated in a Mediterranean country and these wines had been lying in the sun or had been placed in a common cellar at temperatures of up to 30?C for a couple of months. That said sometimes one can see the difference by just examining and comparing the bottles of wine, on the other hand, sometimes its downright difficult to see the difference or the wine may not even be spoiled. So, the collection’s logo is a personal guarantee that firstly the wine’s background is clearly known and that it is genuine and not suspicious or from murky whereabouts, secondly the logo is a symbol that guarantees that the wine was properly imported into Russia and lastly it was properly placed in storage upon arriving to the Russian Federation (similar types of storage facilities for 65,000 bottles equipped with light, moisture and temperature regulation rivaling this one can’t be found in Russia). Furthermore, information on the wine’s optimal maturity and ripeness is placed on each bottle of Chateaus which among other things suggests the level of necessary decantation, for instance (say the wine’s maturity is anticipated only within the next few years, but you would like to drink it now, this would require a decantation process of one-and-a-half to two hours). Other Chateaus are not as widely known and even among the best known brands it doesn’t come in year over year, that why set taste tests are conducted. Should a wine of the given year’s yield turn out to be less than desirable, we exclude it from the collection. Therefore, we reiterate our point that we guarantee the wine’s origins and background which is of great importance for Bordeaux wines, taking only the best of them into our collection. Some valuable opinions about our wine collection: «I cannot remember ever seeing a list as impressive as that of the Whitehall. It has tremendous depth and breadth, a marvelous collection of the best wines the world has to offer. And whether judged by the standards of Melbourne, London, New York or Tokyo, the prices are exceptionally good, far lower than I expected.» James Halliday, «The best wine collection in Europe and possibly the world. Undoubtedly, the Burgundy collection is extremely fascinating. It grabbed my attention immediately, I had lived in Burgundy for six years, so I know how complex this region is. The Australian collection is also quite interesting as these wines are new to the Russian market.». Robert Joseph, «One of the best collections of Burgundy wines in the world.» Pierre Meurgey, «Without a doubt the best collection of Australian wines in Russia, and one of the best in the world, … finally Russia understands what real Australian wines are.» Ted Laurence, «A fantastic collection of Australian wines.» Leslie Rowe, «An amazing collection of German wines, Russia has never seen a collection of this sort before. I hope that now, Russians understand how wonderful German wines can be.» Reinhart Kraus, «I never would have thought that I could fine such fantastic French, Spanish and Italian wines in Russia and all wines that go under the blue chip category. Its just amazing how they managed to do that.» Nicolas Belfrage, «It is a great pleasure for me to cooperate with Mark Kaufman. It is the first time in more than 25 years in wine industry that I have seen such a collection of great estates completed so quickly. Many specialist companies have taken generations to do this and their results are much less - it is almost a miracle!» Brett Crittenden, «This is an outstanding collection. I’m sure that not only buyers but professionals as well know what this is. Its ten years ahead of the market. Even in such leading countries like the US, the UK, Japan and Singapore it is difficult if not impossible to find this type of a gem of a collection all in one place. Only in Russia… in Russia which in principle is almost inexplicable, how were these wines able to slip out of producers’ hands?» G. Gagua, Once again in 2002, the Whitehall upheld its reputation as a pioneer in its field by launching vodka under the Kauffman brand. The Wine Collection Luxury Vodka is the first vintage vodka the world has seen. Starting at the beginning of the 21st century this vodka has been produced once a year in a limited batch of 25,000 bottles, thus taking a new approach to a traditional Russian alcoholic beverage. It is truly a unique concept that fully corresponds to the perception of winemaking; for the first time in Russia a blend of the finest spirits has been created. We believe the Russian market holds great potential, we believe our fellow citizens can distinguish the magnificent from the simply good items, the outstanding from the commonplace. We know that our consumers are active, contemplative and choosy. They want the product they buy to be a sure thing, the best that money can buy and so we work hard for such customers, it is for these kinds of consumers that we created the Wine Collection. Our customers are not the kind of people who are willing to buy a bag of mixed tricks. They want all the information on the product they are buying. That’s why the Whitehall does everything to make sure that this information is available to the customer. Company experts hold lectures and seminars for sommeliers and store consultants, especially for those who work with our customers. We publish information in the press and lastly we have created a web-site on the Internet which you the customer can easily get acquainted with to help you make you choice easier in the limitless world of wines. |
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