The Japan Times - Taylor's endorsement prompts Swift sell-out for Sancerre wine

A bottle of Sancerre by the Terres Blanches domaine, which sells for around $40 in the United States, is glimpsed briefly by a mixing desk during episode five of the "End of an Era" documentary about Swift on Disney.

That was enough for the army of online "Swifties", who scrutinise the singer's every move, to identify "Taylor's wine".

Stocks quickly sold out on the website of its US distributor, providing the latest example of what has become known as Swiftonomics -- the ability of the 36-year-old billionaire to make or break brands with an endorsement.

"It's pretty mad. You can't put a price on it," Laurent Saget, who runs Terres Blanches, told AFP.

"Even if we had wanted to place one of our bottles in such a widely watched series, we couldn't have afforded it. It's nice to have a spotlight land on the appellation and on our domaine," he added.

Saget, 40, said he didn't know Swift's music, but he'd be happy to welcome the soon-to-be-married megastar to the small family-owned property in the village of Bue, which produces 80,000 to 120,000 bottles a year.

Swift is known to be a wine fan, referencing the drink frequently in her lyrics as well as photos posted to social media.

When asked in 2018 by TV host Ellen DeGeneres what she would bring to a dinner party, she showed no hesitation in replying "white wine", before adding her preferences: "Sancerre, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc."

- Popularity -

Sancerre is one of France's most famous wine-making regions, located in the central Loire Valley, where its famously crisp whites are produced from 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc and its reds with Pinot Noir.

It has steadily built a following in the United States, earning a reputation as a quintessential quality French white alongside others from Burgundy.

Its popularity abroad means that around two out of three bottles of white Sancerre produced each year are exported, with about half crossing the Atlantic to the United States, according to industry figures.

New tariffs of 15 percent imposed on French wine by US President Donald Trump are not expected to hit demand, said Saget.

"Despite the tariffs, and perhaps not everyone would say the same way, but I don't think there's been a major impact on our appellation," he said, adding that Sancerre was positioned as a pricey but still accessible product.

Other famous Sancerre fans include American basketball star LeBron James and Spanish singer Rosalia.

Its fortunes differ sharply with France's wine industry as a whole, which is struggling with over-production, fierce competition internationally, and declining domestic consumption.

Even in some of the best-known regions such as Bordeaux, low-end producers are ripping up vines to plant other crops, including olives.

Y.Watanabe--JT