Wine Lister started working with Ivan Massonnat, founder and owner of Domaine Belargus, at the start of 2021, three years after the estate was created. Having amassed a cult following in Paris, Ivan expressed his ambitions of launching in the UK, recognising the influence that the market holds. Immediately seeing the potential of his project, Wine Lister embarked on a strategic distribution and communication collaboration to set Ivan up with the best possible importer in the UK and create awareness around the property and Anjou through bespoke press and trade communications.
Following a virtual tasting and workshop with the Belargus team, Wine Lister created a long-term distribution and communication strategy aligned with its brand DNA, detailing the key messages to be highlighted in the UK. We curated a UK consumer persona to inform our list of press and trade targets (on- and off-trade) and included angles for subsequent media communications. This long-term strategy identified the target distributors for now and in the future: having identified on-trade presence as a key priority at this stage, and D2C distribution as a focus once the wine has established a reputation.
With the aim of conducting inconspicuous communications, in line with Belargus’s humble approach, Wine Lister targeted a minute handful of top on-trade importers while simultaneously sharing the wine with London’s key opinion leaders in more spontaneous scenarios. Our first collaboration was concluded with the partnership of Domaine Belargus with Keeling Andrew, a key importer headed by industry legends, Dan Keeling and Mark Andrew.
Wine Lister worked with Domaine Belargus again in 2023 to execute the second part of its UK strategy and secure a top B2C importer. We selected a small handful of target players that would build awareness of the property and elevate the profile of Anjou among the UK’s private collectors. Continuing our strategic press and trade communications, and organising a trade and press tasting in conjunction with Keeling Andrew, Wine Lister helped to secure a second importer for Domaine Belargus: the prestigious Berry Bros. & Rudd.