Gran Cruz buys stock and contracts from CCVP

[Christian Gollnick]

Gran Cruz continues to invest money and bought for approx. EUR 14 million the Port Wine stock of Companhia Comercial de Vinho do Porto. I must confess that I have never visited this company - but they were large... Cruz bought about 6.5 million liters (around 11-12 thousand pipes). Gran Cruz didn't buy only the wine, but took also over the contracts of CCVP, which are a major player in the French BOB market. From a volume perspective, Gran Cruz is now the market leader... with about 30%. The Symingtons are around 25%... but as they have more Port Wine of higher categories, the Symingtons will have revenue-wise the larger number. What is great for Cruz is that they eliminate their largest competitor in the French market... which hopefully helps them to negotiate better prices for Port... the average price for Port sold in France was EUR 3.62 per liter in 2014... ouch... there should now be hopefully room for improvement...

For our Portuguese speaking friends - here is the link... a very interesting article:

https://www.publico.pt/economia/noticia ... to-1720734

[Andy Velebil]

he average price for Port sold in France was EUR 3.62 per liter in 2014

Uh, how much cheaper can they sell the stuff for in France?

Edit: Thinking about this.....it's a great way to get rid of really cheap stocks of Port to someone who's only aim is to make really cheap Port for people who don't care what it tastes like.

[Roy Hersh]

But instead, need it to cook with.

But to be fair, while most French people could care less about drinking high end Ports, there are certainly some. But the vast majority of what goes to France (in terms of Port wine) has always been inexpensive BOB quality Port, frequently from Gran Cruz (and their huge deep-pocketed parent company).

[Bert VD]

the same goes for Belgium.

the vast majority of port you find here is cheap white, ruby's and tawny's from Cruz, Sandeman, Offley and some low quality supermarket brands. Cockburn and Ferreira are also quite easy to find but very few LBV's. i think the market for vintage port and colheita here is very small and i've never found a single crusted port.

but in most households you will find a bottle of port as an ingredient to cook with. (one that might already be open for up to a year :-p )

[Andy Velebil]

.

but in most households you will find a bottle of port as an ingredient to cook with. (one that might already be open for up to a year :-p )

That can't taste good even when cooked after being opened that long.

[Bert VD]

well they use it for cooking an the leftover will just stay in their bar. for when grandmother passes by and drinks a glass. or until they think it's been open long enough and get a new one to replace it. a lot of bars around here also used to have a bottle of Sandeman tawny on the shelf. but we got to a point that the generation who would drink it sometimes in a bar quite literally died out. it sounds a bit depressing but on the other hand the Belgians are very fussy about their beer (and proud of their beer as well!) and a major importer of French wine. it's also one of the biggest importers of cava. (30.4 million bottles in 2014. just a bit less than Germany with 30.5 but the country is also much smaller)
Port wine is just not really a thing here

[Andy Velebil]

well they use it for cooking an the leftover will just stay in their bar. for when grandmother passes by and drinks a glass. or until they think it's been open long enough and get a new one to replace it. a lot of bars around here also used to have a bottle of Sandeman tawny on the shelf. but we got to a point that the generation who would drink it sometimes in a bar quite literally died out. it sounds a bit depressing but on the other hand the Belgians are very fussy about their beer (and proud of their beer as well!) and a major importer of French wine. it's also one of the biggest importers of cava. (30.4 million bottles in 2014. just a bit less than Germany with 30.5 but the country is also much smaller)
Port wine is just not really a thing here

You need to make it a thing

[Bert VD]

working on it

[Andy Velebil]

working on it

[Al B.]

the same goes for Belgium.

the vast majority of port you find here is cheap white, ruby's and tawny's from Cruz, Sandeman, Offley and some low quality supermarket brands. Cockburn and Ferreira are also quite easy to find but very few LBV's. i think the market for vintage port and colheita here is very small and i've never found a single crusted port.

but in most households you will find a bottle of port as an ingredient to cook with. (one that might already be open for up to a year :-p )

Back in the late '80s and early '90s I used to be able to buy vintage port from my local GB supermarket in Tervuren. For many years this was Quarles Harris 1977 and I drank quite a few bottles while living there. I also had an apartment in Borgerhout and while the wine choice (especially French wines, as Bert says) was very good, the port choice was much poorer than in Tervuren unless I went to GB.

I moved away from Belgium in about 1997 and I still look back with a mixture of happiness and sadness on the day when I drank my last bottle of Quarles Harris 1977 that I acquired while living in Belgium - the last one was opened in July 2004. Happy memories.