Ep. 2302 Markus Holmberg | Grandi Langhe 2025

What are your takeaways from this event? I like the formats with all the producers. They have the same amount of bottles. Mhmm. Quite small amount, actually, which also puts some kinda like democratic approach to it, which are very much like. I think it's a beautiful range of different producers. And I would say very different because of the tastings that I've done, they are going in different directions. So I say it's an excellent, fair to come. Two folks. And get to meet people like me. Exactly. Exactly. That's kinda like the best part of it all. As the official media partner, the Italian Went podcast is excited to present exclusive coverage from Grand Delange twenty twenty five. This series feature firsthand the perspective from top producer and buyers as they navigate new styles, vineyard innovation, and shifting global markets. Discover, expertise, hidden gems, and the trends shaping the region's future. Tune in every Friday, eight three PM, or visit Italian One Podcast dot com for more. Welcome back. My name is Stevie Kim, and this is the Italian One podcast. Grand de language in two thousand and twenty five as we have a little chats with wine people from all over the world. And today, we have with us Marcus. Hold on a second. Let me focus. Holenberg. Is that correct? Holenberg. Yes. Holenberg. Close. Yeah. Close enough. Okay, Marcus. So tell us a little bit about yourself where you're from and what you do. So I'm Swedish. And I have been, working internationally in different industries before, but my passion for wine has always been very present. So I have recently joined in the wine industry working for a, importer in Sweden called Vineonique. And we are very focused on premium and top wines, from all types of appellation. So tell us some of the Pemonte's wineries that you already import. We work with YETi, which is classic big house, elegant style which is amazing. That's it? Well, that's who we work with. We only actually work with one Piamonte's producer as why I'm here to see if we can enlarge in our portfolio and, diversify as well. Okay. So that's a very good place to start. What kind of producers are you looking for to diversify your portfolio from Piamonte? I'd say since the prices have gone up quite much, slightly similar to Burgundy, the Swedish consumers are looking more and more for something that I see in like the mid price range. Kimonte is extremely popular in Sweden right now, so that's why we are searching for more and more alternatives. So mid range and also sustainability is very important for the switch consumer. Other than you when you say mid rent, you're talking about price. I talk about price. Right. What about, varieties? So classic appellations like Langanebiolo and Barolo and barbaresco. Swedish consumers need to know what they're buying. It needs to be something that they remember and so on. So what we have been trying to convince the audience is quality white Italian wines, which is still a bit of uphill battle, but we see some growing interests, especially since the palettes is now changing. People are more and more towards the fresher side than we've seen before. So we hear this quite a bit, you know, you know, the fresher less alcoholic. Yeah. Is that also true for the Swedish market? Indeed. Very much so. We've seen past twenty years a quite big decline of Veneto. I'm around that type of style and a large increase in pinot noir and neviolo. So that's where we are very much Okay. And what are the big opportunities for Piamonte wineries for the Swedish market? Well, the competition within the Swedish market is already quite high. So the opportunities are to make sure that you actually can communicate yourself within that quite narrow market. I'd say to be concrete, sustainability, and quality versus price those things is actually the most important parts. So the sustainability is kind of a buzz word nowadays. I feel like it's overly used, but what does it mean sustainability for the Swedish market at the moment? The switch monopoly relies on the certifications and that's System below it. Yes. Exactly. So that's where it all starts. We need to have certified sustainable, products on the shelf. It's increased demand from the consumers. And it's also something that is part of who we are as an importer. And also it's something that we see growing and also about traceability. It needs to be concrete. You cannot just say that you work organically. You need to show her how you work her directly. So, you know, this is your first time in Grandilanga because we actually met Marcus last night at the dinner table, so we started talking. And that's why we invited him as a guest today. But for the first time, how do you navigate five hundred wineries. How do you go about doing this? Well, I have to do my homework. So I actually started with pulling out the list of equalized certified producers Uh-huh. Here. And how many were there? Too many. So I've also made like a selection and there it's comparable to who are already represented in Sweden. And who is not? Do they have enough quantities and so on? So kinda like methodological step by step. I come from a different background than most other people in the wine industry. Where do you come from? Business and marketing. So In a in a different industry. Yeah. In a different industry. Because business and marketing is very broad. It is very broad. So, yeah. Yeah. No. Indeed. Indeed. Indeed. So I've been working in social media advertising in retail for Inditex at the head of his Spain and so on. And also within tech in the Swedish streaming service. So with all that in mind, I have, like, a methodological approach to how to approach the opportunities that I see among producers that are still not taken by other Swedish importers. So I have a question for you. You're the social media advertising guru. For me. This very moment. This very much. Oh, but Marcus, how is wine allowed to be advertised in Sweden? It is allowed to be advertised in Sweden. We have a possibility to present objectively the product. We cannot say buy this wine. We cannot say, oh, this tastes so good. We can give an objective description about the wine pairing with food and so on and show the bottle. We cannot show the bottle together with people because that would encourage Oh, okay. So you cannot the restriction is the bottle with the people. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You know, because I have to be honest, we are, of course, doing social media advertising with wine most Yeah. And often it's blocked in Sweden. And I didn't understand that because they just say you're not compliant. Yeah. But we don't really actually know. So how would an Italian wine producer go about understanding exactly the guidelines, how to advertise with the Swedish audience in mind. Fairly simple, bottle in image, neutral background. No people. No people in the image and just the basics about the product. And that means grape. That means vintage, aging, and, like, the very, very basics. And then, of course, a price if it's available in the Swedish market or not. So you can't have people and wine together. Unfortunately, they're not in images. Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah. What about videos? Well, it's it's the same. It's the same. Yeah. Because you know, what happened was we were doing some YouTube advertising, you know, for our channel. And in the Swedish market, if your target's Swedish market, it gets locked. Yeah. Yeah. And we have to stop the entire campaign. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The advertising part is like that. So if you put sponsoring behind the ads, then you need to follow those restrictions. But as far as I understand, if you are a producer, you can definitely talk about the wine with the person in the image and so on, but you still need to talk about the wine itself and just describe it. But you can't have the producers holding a bottle of wine. Well, this is the gray zone. Yeah. Well Yeah. So so this is also It's kind of ridiculous, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but Yeah. Now, it's a gray area where a lot of importers, they're trying to, bend the rules a bit. So, unfortunately, I don't have the perfect answer to where the line goes. It's a bit of a trial and error, but if you want to be on the safe side, you just make sure that you have the, like, the very more clean objective description. Okay. And who is doing since you're the social media expert, we which we can expect, who is doing really a great job in the wine industry in terms of social media that come to mind? Well, actually, I'm super biased here, but I actually think that Vietti is doing amazing job because they have a beautiful presence without being pushy. Okay. They have a a beautiful Instagram account where they are continuously posting content and also presenting it in a nice way that is not really so much about you have to drink this. They're telling a story. They're telling a story about the winery, about the wines and so on. Any other wineries come to mind? That do this very well? Well, of course, there are plenty. And I wouldn't say that I have one top of mind at the moment. But, of course, there are several that are in my feed. Some of the champagne brands are very, very good as well. Yeah. But they're very, you know, they're what we call very patina, very shiny and perfect kind of feed. Right? So, like, very Madison Avenue kind of feed. Yeah. So that's what you're saying is beautiful. No. What I'm saying is that that is one part that works really well. And then we have the other part that is also quite interesting that had a quiet big of success. There is another importer in Sweden that is doing a great job, and they are working very much on the more, like, what we used to call the hipster type of wines and also communication. And they had their own, like, kind of TV program where they introduce a person to have a tasting. Mhmm. So what they put on their own account is, like, fine because you have a tasting and then you talk about the wine and explain But as long as you don't say, like, yeah, you need to go buy this, then it's fine. And as far as I understand, they don't put any sponsorship behind it. They talk very much about hand craft chip and or craftsmanship and also about the story of this particularly small producer usually with a very non Madison way type of advertising format. So, you know, it's I could be here all day asking him one hundred questions because I have so many because it is a very challenging world right now. The social media advertising. It's getting to be quite expensive. It would just be a lot cheaper and challenging for the new. I'm not going to even go there with the World Health Organization recommendations guidelines right now. Yeah. But we will have to save that for another pod. Today, my last question is, what are your takeaways from this event from Grande Lange that you go home with, which you would like to share with your folks back at home, whether they're colleagues or your potential customers? Yeah. First of all, it's worth coming. It's a beautiful event with a beautiful set of producers coming here. I like the formats with all the producers, they have the same amounts of bottles. Mhmm. Quite small amount, actually. They're not just allowed to show that many. Which also put some kind of like democratic approach to it, which I very much like. I think it's a beautiful range of different producers, and I would say very different because of the tastings that I've done. They are going in different directions, even though just looking in Barolo is a fairly small district, but still within Barolo, you can have so much of difference. So I say it's in excellent, fair to come. Too far. I get to meet people like me. Exactly. Exactly. That's kinda like the best part of it all. Alrighty. Thank you so much, Marcus, for being with us today. And that is a wrap for now with Marcus. Holdenberg, Howardenberg, for the social media expert, which he who we will plan to tap in the future for some more chat coming soon. And that is it. Longga two thousand twenty five. Thank you so much for having me. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Emilia FM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and break the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italian wine podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and public costs until next time.