Hamburg, 12 October 2016. At the Hamburg company headquarters, the Sichel and Heinemann families have celebrated the delivery of the “SICHEL Family Reserve” Bordeaux wine, produced exclusively for Gebr. Heinemann by Maison Sichel. The rare wine is now available as a limited edition for EUR 69 per 0.75l bottle in the Heinemann Duty Free Shops in Frankfurt, Oslo and Istanbul as well as in Copenhagen, Amsterdam and in many other locations. Heinemann is the world’s first and only retailer to offer this special Bordeaux “Sichel Family Reserve”. An exceptionally high content of Petit Verdot grape makes this wine an extraordinary taste experience.
Huge potential for travel retail exclusives in the wine category
In 1980s Gebr. Heinemann was one of the first duty free retailers to add wine to its range. At the time wine was not yet a classic category of the travel retail market. Today, top-quality wine has joined the ranks of such popular trends as “cooking” and “pleasure”. This is why Gebr. Heinemann together with some long-standing partners are always on the lookout to create more exclusive products for the travel retail market. Last year Schloss Vollrads, one of the oldest wine estates in the world, produced a sumptuous “1211” Riesling exclusively for Heinemann. This wine is available in the Heinemann duty free shops in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Berlin as well as in Amsterdam, Oslo and Copenhagen for EUR 99. Also, the “1211” is only supplied to some selected top international restaurants, such as “Sky on 57” in Singapore or “Piacere” in Tokyo. “We strongly believe in the future of this category and push it accordingly. Moreover, we attach great importance to the quality of its presentation and its visibility. We also provide professional consultants at our shops. To add to that, our customers are looking for exclusive wines with which to surprise their business partners, friends or just themselves,” said Sven Thiele, Buyer Wine, Sparkling Wine & Champagne for Gebr. Heinemann.
Successful long-term cooperation between two family businesses
The handover date for the wine has been a long time in the planning as in October 2016 the companies will celebrate 20 years of successful cooperation. Allan Sichel, Managing Director at Maison Sichel and three of his four brothers handed this special wine over to Claus and Gunnar Heinemann. “We have chosen to offer the small quantity available of our SICHEL Family Reserve exclusively through our very good friends from Gebr. Heinemann - Like us, a family company, driven by strong values of quality, reliability, consistency, respect and friendship”, explains Allan Sichel.
Claus Heinemann, Co-Owner of Gebr. Heinemann adds: "Maison Sichel is only four years younger than our company. We do not only share the same values, but also we are both having over 130 years of experience in international trade with premium goods. As a Bordeaux lover, I am especially pleased that we offer such an excellent wine exclusively in our shops."
About “SICHEL Family Reserve” and Maison Sichel
This Margaux wine is a unique blend produced in very small quantities; it illustrates the distinctiveness of the Petit Verdot grape variety. Petit Verdot has been grown in Bordeaux for many centuries; it is fragile and difficult to ripen, the yield per vine must be kept low (three small bunches at the most), timing of harvesting is critical, picking is preferably carried out manually, at the cellar the grapes must be manipulated with great care. It is our belief that the fantastic attributes of good Petit Verdot grapes offer such benefits that it is worth seeking to understand, know and tame this variety, accept the risks involved in growing it to make distinctive and interesting wines. Petit Verdot gives wines a very rich color, good acidity, profound depth and forceful character representing a valuable contribution to the traditional major components which are Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Of course these attributes are only obtained when the grapes are of very high quality. Reaching the required level of maturity can be a real challenge in Bordeaux where the weather is uncertain and unpredictable during the important months of September and October.
Very few growers use Petit Verdot; only 781 hectares are planted in the whole of the Bordeaux region, representing 0.7% of the red grape planted area (106.000 hectares). Proportionally there is a little more in Margaux were it covers 3.9% of the area under vine (61 hectares over a total of 1.563). It is very rare for Petit Verdot to make up more than 5-7% of any finished wine from Margaux.
We like the authenticity and complexity of this grape variety developing a special interest in its cultivation and vinification which is revealed in our special SICHEL Family Reserve. This wine contains 35% Petit Verdot which is exceptionally high, undoubtedly the highest of any Margaux wine, making it a very unique blend.
The Sichel family has been involved in winemaking in Bordeaux since 1883. Forever seeking to improve the expression and appeal of our wines, we like to introduce differences and explore new opportunities of what nature has to offer; combinations in terroir, grape variety, wine making and final blending give us endless possibilities. Maison Sichel is fully owned by the SICHEL family. Brothers, sons and nephews (7 in total) are fully active in running and developing it on a daily basis with a long term perspective. It is almost a century ago when the Sichel family established itself in the Margaux appellation; first with Château Palmer and later with Château Angludet. Find out more on www.sichel.fr
Press Contact:
Lara Vitzthum
Head of Corporate Communications
+49 40 3010 23849
