Natalie Grace on LinkedIn: Some big news from our neck of the woods this week... it's a privilege to… (2024)

Dear Friends, Wine Friends, and Valued Clients,I’m excited to share that, thanks to Xavier, I have been granted the privilege of participating as a partner in a Fellowship at the famed Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative (https://lnkd.in/eF5pUZyY), an unmissable opportunity to figure out concretely how to make the world a better place! In a couple of days, I’m off to Boston for a year, minus the academic summer. Given recent headlines, an “interesting” time to be there 😉! Until now, my only dealings with Harvard have been in the context of a Harvard Business School case study about Chêne Bleu on how to beat the odds and stay nimble in the face of headwinds of all sorts and sudden changes in the international environment.This very structured and selective program, for about 25 people and a handful or two of their lucky partners, combines learning, teaching, researching, and connecting with like-minded people to figure out how to make a difference on intractable societal challenges and, where relevant, lead transformative change.Each participant presents a project. If you follow Xavier on LinkedIn, you may be aware that his focus is to use his financial expertise at the service of regenerative agriculture, to work on a method to turn around unproductive land. My project will dovetail with his research, and focus on regen viticulture and mindful winemaking… I hope to build on the positive experience and results at Chêne Bleu and La Verrière, and help scale up the adoption of planet-protecting practices, and awareness of their essential nature.As you may have seen in the New York Times article (https://lnkd.in/erys6PXH) that features Chêne Bleu, we’ve worked hard to find natural solutions to complex problems— but there’s a lot more work to be done!I’m so excited to be heading there, but it’s important to make sure Chêne Bleu and La Verrière keep going from strength to strength. Luckily, I already have some phenomenal people in place across all the important areas. Management and operations will remain in the capable hands of my amazing Deputy CEO Marlene Angelloz, who will become Interim CEO, wine production will continue to be led by Josselin Guiziou, who has quickly found his footing since joining us 3 years ago, etc. I’m really proud of my team and confident things will continue to run smoothly.One thing that I would greatly appreciate is if you would kindly follow Chêne Bleu on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and Instagram, since that will become the primary place for updates and invitations to events, and I hope to post some of my take-aways from my research at Harvard, if you’re interested.Do get in touch if you have views to share! I’d also love to collaborate with those of you who care about these topics 🙏🏻🌎🌍🌏Warm wishes for the year ahead– may the 2024th be with you! NicoleInsta @chenebleuwineInsta: @laverriereprovenceFB: @chenebleuFB: @laverriereprovenceLI: Chêne Bleu WinesLI: Xavier R. Rolet

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has submitted to government pre Budget 24/25 for the wine sector. The 3 key recommendations from AGW:Recommendation 1: Invest $30 million in a sustainability support packagefor vineyard owners.Recommendation 2: Invest $36 million over the forward estimates in anexport market driven recovery.Recommendation 3: Invest $20 million in a domestic marketing campaign todrive food and wine tourism in Australia, including anadditional $10 million to retain and extend the WineTourism and Cellar Door Grant scheme on an ongoingbasis.None is guaranteed but it demonstrates the key focus areas for supporting grape growers, building export markets and driving inbound tourism.Best of luck Lee McLean and team in this, the industry is hurting but needs to pull together with strong leadership, advocacy and cohesion. Read the full story here:https://lnkd.in/ggfijgQQ

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Some time back…At this stage, I already received a wine focussed MBA from UCT, was a senior wine executive, sat on the Boards of WOSA (twice), Wine Cellars South Africa, the Wine and Spirits Board, was a founder Trustee of WIETA and Pebbles, consulted on economic transformation for the South African Wine Industry Trust, facilitated the first land reform deal in the history of SA wine, started and developed a wine farm or two and built a few global wine brands.When I look at the South African wine industry today, I am actually concerned. It’s not viable and has not been viable for almost 2 decades. Contributing more the R50 Billion to GDP, largely driven by exports (the local taxi industry that services informal economy commuters makes about R90 Billion annually and is more viable), employing more than 250 000 people, the stats that we read over and over again, year after year, actually means nothing considering that grape producers, our primary and most valuable resource are making less than 2.5% net return on their investment annually and are pulling their vines out. When I did my MBA, my focus was on converting the industry value chain into a learning ecosystem as it was best suited for transformation then. A few years on, my focus, www.wineledger.co.za, is now on converting it into a digital ecosystem as it is best suited for transitioning into the 4IR. To move out of this quagmire we are in, the digitalisation of the SA wine value chain as a competitive force is the only way forward. This is also the best strategy for transformation. To automate it would be the best way of implementing and monitoring it in near real-time.Oh, on the MW scholarship, I never finished it. It was simply not an open door for me to enter. I did spend some amazing time in Austria though, tasting through some of the world’s best wines as part of completing my first year…

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Nicole has some exciting news to share:Dear Friends, Wine Friends, and Valued Clients,I’m excited to share that, thanks to Xavier, I have been granted the privilege of participating as a partner in a Fellowship at the famed Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative (https://lnkd.in/eF5pUZyY), an unmissable opportunity to figure out concretely how to make the world a better place! In a couple of days, I’m off to Boston for a year, minus the academic summer. Given recent headlines, an “interesting” time to be there 😉! Until now, my only dealings with Harvard have been in the context of a Harvard Business School case study about Chêne Bleu on how to beat the odds and stay nimble in the face of headwinds of all sorts and sudden changes in the international environment.This very structured and selective program, for about 25 people and a handful or two of their lucky partners, combines learning, teaching, researching, and connecting with like-minded people to figure out how to make a difference on intractable societal challenges and, where relevant, lead transformative change.Each participant presents a project. If you follow Xavier on LinkedIn, you may be aware that his focus is to use his financial expertise at the service of regenerative agriculture, to work on a method to turn around unproductive land. My project will dovetail with his research, and focus on regen viticulture and mindful winemaking… I hope to build on the positive experience and results at Chêne Bleu and La Verrière, and help scale up the adoption of planet-protecting practices, and awareness of their essential nature.As you may have seen in the New York Times article (https://lnkd.in/erys6PXH) that features Chêne Bleu, we’ve worked hard to find natural solutions to complex problems— but there’s a lot more work to be done!I’m so excited to be heading there, but it’s important to make sure Chêne Bleu and La Verrière keep going from strength to strength. Luckily, I already have some phenomenal people in place across all the important areas. Management and operations will remain in the capable hands of my amazing Deputy CEO Marlene Angelloz, who will become Interim CEO, wine production will continue to be led by Josselin Guiziou, who has quickly found his footing since joining us 3 years ago, etc. I’m really proud of my team and confident things will continue to run smoothly.One thing that I would greatly appreciate is if you would kindly follow Chêne Bleu on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and Instagram, since that will become the primary place for updates and invitations to events, and I hope to post some of my take-aways from my research at Harvard, if you’re interested.Do get in touch if you have views to share! I’d also love to collaborate with those of you who care about these topics 🙏🏻🌎🌍🌏Warm wishes for the year ahead– may the 2024th be with you! NicoleInsta @chenebleuwineInsta: @laverriereprovenceFB: @chenebleuFB: @laverriereprovenceLI: Xavier R. Rolet

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My first day in the USA (starting my Great Wine Capitals bursary) was lunch with friend and guru of Australian wine Chuck Hayward. If you don't know Chuck then checkout his website (www.vinroads.com). After four hours of eating, drinking, talking and listening (at the Bell Tower in San Francisco (thanks Barbie for great afternoon)), I came away a little wiser re the challenges ahead for any Australian winemaker wanting to sell wine in the biggest wine market on the planet. One key point that kept resonating with me throughout an afternoon of margaritas, pulled pork nachos and a bottle of 2001 Birchwood McLaren Vale Shiraz (which was amazing and I brought from home) was the importance of building regional stories and investing time telling them to the world (which means travelling).While the Riverland (and other regions) grapple with significant structural changes, it's important not to lose sight as to what influences the buying behaviour of customers. It is far more than just price. While there are many, including ourselves, who have created interesting stories, I feel the 'Riverland Up Rising' project, developed by Riverland Wine, is one example of how to begin the re-engagement of Australian wines with customers in the USA. Such a project may seem irrelevant to many grape growers and winemakers in the Riverland (for various reasons). But if we can't reflect and reinvent who we are, what we have, what we do and ultimately what we want, then our density is set in stone. The only way to build more compelling stories, hence create more customer interest (at home and abroad) is to encourage the next generation (internal & external) of grape growers, winemakers and marketer to invest in the Riverland (this includes more brands, cellar doors, tourism experiences and so on). This can only happen through leadership, support and vision from the local councils, industry bodies, corporate organisations and the community.They key missing ingredient to the successful future of the Riverland is profit (evidently lacking right now). Hence significant change is needed quickly! Note: as part of my Great Wine Capitals bursary conditions, I need to report on my experiences and findings via a final report and a blog. I'm using LinkIn as the medium to share what I learn rather than a blog (I'm not sure how many people will read a blog). I'm also happy to take questions.

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The title of my wine industry specific MBA thesis was EACH ONE TEACH ONE - a famed Struggle slogan - wherein I made the case for wine businesses to become learning organisations. The thesis was written way back in 2001/2 and was inspired by a retired farm worker foreman, Oom Abraham, who could not read or write but who knew every inch of the wine property I was managing at the time. Once, on a hot cloudless day a few weeks before the harvest, he walked into my office and said to me “Ou Klong, os moet spyt, dit rien môre” and I called the winemaker and the consulting viticulturist and informed them that Oom Abraham said it was going to rain and that we had to spray the vines. Of course no one acted because what does Abraham know. Needless to say, it pissed down with rain the next day. A learning organisation is a place where people continually expand their capacity to co-create the results they truly desire; new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured; collective aspiration is set free, and people are continually learning (from each other) to see the whole (reality) together.I am writing this, not just to honour Oom Abraham who has since passed and who played a vital part in converting that property into the iconic wine estate it is today, but to give recognition to so many other “unqualified” vineyard and cellar workers, who know better than most how to prune for quality and how to make the wines and who have mentored and taught so many qualified degreed viticulturists and winemakers into becoming who and what they are today, without any mention and or recognition. Become learning organisations and recognise those with experience and no qualifications through career pathing. I have done so where I worked and for those who worked with me as I recognised their value in my business. Give your workers career opportunities based on their experiences, recognise their prior knowledge, acknowledge their capacity, reward their insight and respect their intuition. A degree without experience is useless anyways. Lets alter the prospects of the wine industry by advancement through diversity. Each one, teach one…

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If you're running a small or family wine business in SA, and you know you'd benefit from taking some time out OF the business to work ON the business, then this is a terrific opportunity created by South Australian Wine Industry Association. The sessions are designed to give you time, structure and guidance on framing up a current, forward-looking and practical strategic plan to serve your business goals. Jump on and register, a couple of spots left! #Wine #SouthAustralia #StrategicPlanning

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Following the record-breaking freeze event earlier this month on top of a damaging winter in December 2022, the grape growers and wineries in the interior of BC are potentially facing little to no crop in 2024. We thank you for your support in sharing this survey as widely as we possibly can within BC, with the anticipation of having a large portion of the survey responses received by January 31st - only one week from now.There are many associations and organizations that represent different groups within the industry. The efforts of Coferment Management are intended to capture the impact on all businesses that benefit directly or indirectly from the BC Wine industry, whether it be private growers, wineries, service providers, suppliers, sales agencies, or tourism/hospitality businesses (ie. tour operators, accommodators, restaurants, etc.)We are not only trying to understand the economic impact, but more importantly the human impact - the people and their families whose livelihoods depend on the BC Wine Industry and its tourism. At Coferment Management, as small winery owners ourselves, we see this as the single most important pillar of the wine industry - the people.How we're going to handle the information:Personal details will remain anonymous - any personal or identifiable information will not be shared with government, associations, etc. Coferment Management will keep the information confidential. Information will be aggregated anonymously for the purpose of quantifying the potential loss - both human and economic. We will then provide the aggregated information back to survey participants as well as use it in order to guide discussions with industry groups to help find solutions to our challenges, and understand the impact on the people in the industry and adjacent businesses.Survey link: https://lnkd.in/gJTHnqX2If you have any questions or concerns on this please contact us at hello [at] cofermentmanagement [dot] ca

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This survey by Coferment Management is intended to capture data for analysis, to help guide discussions with BC Wine Industry groups on how to better understand and address the challenges posed by recent extreme weather that will cause devastating losses with human and economic impact. The survey is intended for business owners and upper level management in the Industry and those adjacent (hospitality, tourism, DMOs, breweries, distilleries, suppliers, agents/agencies, distributors, etc).

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Curious about how Wine Scholar Guild got its start and where we are headed next? Read this article from Christian Holthausen for The Buyer and get to know more about Julien Camus, WSG Founder and President, and the journey of Wine Scholar Guild.#wineeducation #entrepreneurship #wine #wineindustry #winebusiness

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