VIKARUS
Photo by Vikarus
VIKARUS is a start-up in the wine world. The project was kicked off by a small group of students at the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL). They knew the Lavaux region, they knew its wine, they knew that young drinkers found it rather passé.
Their mission became the revival of Lavaux wine among young, affluent consumers.
They called their project VIKARUS.
The name alludes to Ikarus, the Greek mythological character who built wings with wax and feathers and tried to reach the sun. As the wax melted with the heat of the sun, he fell.
The VIKARUS team argues that one needs to attempt to fly and fall to inspire others to dare something exciting.
They started by partnering with a Lavaux based winery; J. & M. Dizerens.
They selected three wines: a white, a rosé and a red.
And then they worked hard on creating a new, unique, customer experience; on creating a dream.
They designed a new innovative bottle. One with a striking faceted design, inspired by the UNESCO-protected Lavaux terraces.
They imprinted the words “Fly” or “Fall” on their corks so that when opening each bottle one is presented with their fate, maybe.
And they are now targeting a young affluent crowd, mostly novice to wine.
Vikarus has its target audience well defined. They are working at making-wine-sexy-again among Gen-Z and the youngest Millennials.
Read about the new market that Vikarus is tapping in to...
Blog post: "20s to 30s: the untapped wine market"
They are playing it simple. But smart. To start with, as said, they selected only three wines. One per “colour”; a white, a rosé and a red. The three of them are fulfilling and pretty easy drinking.
They use a very intuitive, visual scale to describe the wines’ aromas and flavours. And by avoiding the overblown language often used in wine reviews they gain yet another point with young drinkers.
What is even more clever is their usage of technology; Gen-Z’s natural environment.
First, their wines are for sale via their own website.
Secondly, their marketing happens online, on social media; Instagram, Tiktok and so on.
These are the new distribution channels of the trendiest of brands… this is where any brand will reach their 20s to 30s audience!
J. & M. Dizerens
Family run winery in Lavaux, Switzerland
J. & M. Dizerens is a family run winery in Lutry in the Lavaux region of Switzerland. They have been producing wine here for five generations.
Despite the challenges that the Lavaux terraces represent for vignerons, they work their land and vineyards with love and passion.
They work with local, native grapes as well as international varieties. Chasselas , Diolinoir, Plant-Robert are some of the indigenous grape varieties J. & M. Dizerens vinify with.
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Lavaux
Region of terraced vineyards in Switzerland
In the South of Switzerland, overlooking Lake Geneva, is Lavaux region. It’s a beautiful area composed of 830 hectares of terraced vineyards. And since 2007 it has entered the (long) list of UNESCO world heritage sites.
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