FT : Stanley and Josh Kroenke, global sports tycoons on a winning run

Stanley and Josh Kroenke, global sports tycoons on a winning run
US family’s six clubs spanning four sports include Arsenal, the LA Rams and new NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets

As champagne flowed in the Denver Nuggets locker room on Monday after the basketball team’s first NBA league title, Josh Kroenke, scion of the Kroenke-Walton families that have owned it since 2000, reflected on what the victory meant for the Colorado city’s residents.

“Enjoy it. This is for you,” he told the local Kroenke-owned Altitude TV network. “I knew that when we got here we wanted to figure out a way to stay and be in the conversation and I think these guys are going to be in the championship conversation for a long time.”

The result gives Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, a sprawling sports, media and real estate empire with six professional clubs spanning four sports and two continents, its fourth league title in less than two years. KSE last year notched up a Super Bowl victory with the Los Angeles Rams, a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche ice hockey team and a National Lacrosse League championship for the Colorado Mammoth. 

With their London football club Arsenal finishing second in the English Premier League and returning to the Champions League after a six-year absence, the Kroenkes have amassed as prolific a sporting run of any ownership group in recent years.

Executives who have worked with the Kroenkes, led by patriarch E Stanley Kroenke alongside his 43-year-old son Josh, say the pair take a hands-on approach to managing their clubs, making clear their goal is not just winning titles but also seeking to ensure long-term stability.

“One of the greatest characteristics of Stan is that the highs are not too high and the lows are not too low,” Kevin Demoff, president of the Los Angeles Rams, told the Financial Times. “He takes a steady, methodical approach.” 

The elder Kroenke, a real estate developer by background and husband to Walmart heir Ann Walton, has placed particular emphasis on owning and developing his clubs’ stadiums, including the Nuggets’ Ball Arena and the Rams’ SoFi Stadium. Forbes estimates the value of the KSE empire at $12.8bn.

Among the biggest controversies of Kronke’s tenure as a sports owner was his manoeuvre to relocate the Rams seven years ago from St Louis back to their original home in Los Angeles. In 2021, Kroenke and the National Football League agreed to pay $791mn to settle claims by St Louis that the team had been improperly yanked from the region, depriving it of a lucrative source of tourism and entertainment. 

The same year, the Kroenkes were among the ownership groups who formed the ultimately doomed breakaway European Super League, roiling global football and prompting grovelling apologies by owners to clubs and their supporters.

However, the mood at Emirates has improved this season with an uptick in fortunes on the pitch and a younger, refreshed line-up under head coach Mikel Arteta. A campaign to get Kroenke to sell the club during years of underperformance has faded away. 

“There is definitely more of a connection with fans. It’s definitely a happier Arsenal,” said Tim Payton of the Arsenal Supporters Trust, although he cautioned that “it’s fragile and doubts remain over their intent given the support they gave for the Super League”.

Succession plans are in motion. In March Josh Kroenke became co-chair of Arsenal while Tim Lewis, the lawyer who advised on the original purchase of the club, was named executive vice-chair. Fans say the increased profile of the younger Kroenke has helped mend relations. 

“Arsenal fans will think of KSE’s involvement through Josh — he’s the figurehead. But Stan still makes the big calls,” said Payton. “Josh has a much more outgoing personality,” he added, while Stan is “distant and reserved” and has never shown “real interest in engaging with supporters”. 

Both Kroenkes have been pounding the pavement and racking up air miles this spring, attending playoff games for the Nuggets and Avalanche both in their home markets as well as on the road, while Josh attended Arsenal’s final fixture of the season at Emirates on May 28 before returning to Colorado for the NBA Finals.

Demoff, the Rams president, said both father and son are “elite competitors” who have a say in most major club decisions, from the appointment of coaches and stars to attending team practices and chatting with players each week.

“We talk to him daily to keep him abreast of what’s going on,” Demoff said of the elder Kroenke.

The family also foster group interaction between their clubs, inviting coaches and management from each team to share in the celebrations or attend consequential matches.

Sean McVay, the Rams head coach, said this week he attended a playoff series two seasons ago between the Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns that Denver ultimately lost.

“Being in the locker room with them afterwards and just watching the way they stayed the course, the patience and leadership by the Kroenkes. it was awesome to be able to see,” McVay told reporters on Tuesday. 

“What else can you say, a Super Bowl, a Stanley Cup, winning an NBA title now and [the Arsenal result] — some pretty damn good owners right there.”

FT : French AI fundraising sensation shows Europe’s got talent

French AI fundraising sensation shows Europe’s got talent
Money is flowing into regional tech start-ups but regulators have a difficult balancing act not to kill AI in its infancy

They have a business concept, prestigious French engineering degrees, stints at US tech groups and now €105mn to play with. Thirtysomethings Arthur Mensch, Timothee Lacroix and Guillaume Lample became the EU’s new AI darlings this week, with a record seed fundraising round.

Their spectacular financing success — it was Europe’s largest-ever seed round — values the one-month-old business, Mistral, at more than €240mn on not much more than hope: that the company, which is aiming to build an open-sourced language model with B2B applications, will become a European AI champion and give the bloc a strategic stake in how the industry is shaped and regulated globally.

The hype surrounding the French trio of former Meta and Google researchers is evident. The great and the good of Paris, including telco billionaire Xavier Niel, shipping magnate Rodolphe Saadé and the Decaux family, have rushed to buy a ticket alongside leading investor Lightspeed Venture Partners. Jean-Charles Samuelian-Werve, founder of French health-tech unicorn Alan — worth more than €2.7bn — is advising the start-up. Meta AI chief scientist Yann LeCun, a Frenchman, is an enthusiastic supporter.

As is often the case in France, the state is not far away: BPI France, a state investment vehicle with a mission to nurture “national champions”, is also a backer.

The high-profile fundraising shows that France’s top universities, including École polytechnique and École normale supérieure — from which the Mistral founders graduated — continue to produce alumni with cutting-edge skills. The same is true of the other European countries: the UK is where nearly half of the 130 or so European AI start-ups are based, according to data compiled by Sifted, followed by Germany and the Netherlands.

It is hard not to see an element of Fomo in the Mistral frenzy. But it is worth noting the founders have agreed to a big dilution — more than 40 per cent, when it is typically about 10 per cent to 20 per cent at the seed stage — to fund the expensive computing power needed to train their model. And investors in the region don’t have a lot of options. AI fundraising targeting European start-ups was a meagre $4bn this year, compared with $25bn in the US, according to Dealroom.

Regulators, meanwhile, don’t want to be caught out by a technology with revolutionary potential: what could hurt these start-ups and their investors is the Artificial Intelligence Act being cooked up in Brussels.

Draft legislation, which is expected to be finalised by the end of the year, imposes tough restrictions on privacy, transparency and would ban some technology.

Developers of generative AI models like ChatGPT would have to disclose content that was generated by AI and publish summaries of copyrighted data used for training purposes. The US and China have already published their own rules. Britain will host a global summit on AI safety this year.

Interviewed by the Financial Times this week, Mensch issued a warning to Brussels: the EU draft legislation “in its current state [would] make it very hard to actually innovate in a field whose implications we don’t really understand yet”.

Questioned by the 30-year-old newbie entrepreneur on stage at a Paris tech gathering, French president Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said he shared his “worries” about the EU AI act.

“The worst scenario is a Europe that would invest much less than the US or China [in AI] and that would not be able to create big champions, but that would start by regulating,” he said. “This scenario is possible . . . I don’t want [the EU] to set things in stone too early.”

He went on to outline a plan to encourage innovation by promoting AI “clusters” funded with a mixture of public and private money.

Regulation did need to happen, he said, but not without collaboration with Washington and London, a reference to the need to align western partners in the context of tensions and rivalry with China. The French president received a polite answer from Mensch: “These are good first steps.”

>>> US After Hours Summary: ADBE +2.3% higher on earnings; NUE +1.2% higher on g

After Hours Summary: ADBE +2.3% higher on earnings; NUE +1.2% higher on guidance; CBT -7.7% falls as it withdraws FY23 EPS guidance; SPCE +41% pops as first spaceflight to occur this month

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: ADBE +2.3%, NUE +1.2% (guides Q2 earnings above consensus)

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: SPCE +41% (starts commercial spaceline operations; first spaceflight to occur this month), SQSP +7.7% (SQSP to acquire assets associated with GOOG Domains business), ENVX +4.4% (achieves Q2 forecast for units made at Fab1 location), XAIR +3.3% (licenses commercial rights to nNOS Inhibitors), COIN +2.2% (BLK iShares unit files for the formation of a spot Bitcoin ETF), MARA +2.1% (BLK iShares unit files for the formation of a spot Bitcoin ETF), BLK +1.3% (BLK iShares unit files for the formation of a spot Bitcoin ETF), BNTX +0.9% (FDA panel of advisors recommend updated COVID shots for fall and winter target XBB variant, according to CNBC), NVAX +0.5% (to Deliver Protein-based Monovalent XBB COVID Vaccine), FANG +0.3% (CEO sold 11600 shares), TALO +0.1% (names new CFO), PFE +0.1% (FDA panel of advisors recommend updated COVID shots for fall and winter target XBB variant, according to CNBC), CNX +0.1% (to sell assets in Appalachian basin for $125 mln), DLO +0.1% (says it had positive talks with Argentine govt), BLD +0.1% (CEO sold 4473 shares), BUD +0.1% (CEO to launch summer ads reinforcing Bud Light brand)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: CBT -7.7% (withdraws FY23 EPS outlook; provides update on demand landscape)

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: TIGO -6.3% (TIGO discussions with APO re potential acquisition have been terminated), CWAN -3.3% (files for 10 mln share offering by selling shareholders), RCEL -2.5% (names new CFO), LXRX -1.9% (FDA approves INPEFA), CTRA -1.4% (CFO to retire; names new CFO), DIS -0.5% (CFO to step down), OTLY -0.4% (files for 22,424,755 ADSs by selling shareholders), MRNA -0.3% (FDA panel of advisors recommend updated COVID shots for fall and winter target XBB variant, according to CNBC), ORCL -0.3% (laying off hundreds, rescinding job offers, and cutting open positions in its Cerner Health unit, according to Business Insider), CBOE -0.2% (CEO sold 8000 shares), GOOG -0.1% (SQSP to acquire assets associated with GOOG Domains business), UPS -0.1% (Teamsters expected to authorize UPS strike this summer, according to TheHill), GT -0.1% (radial tire to be one of the approved fitments for the new Airbus A321XLR), COST -0.1% (CFO sold 1500 shares)

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 15th of June 2023 V2(+)

>>> Up
* Accenture Raised to Neutral at Piper Sandler; PT $316
* Colruyt Raised to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 30 euros
* Emerson Electric Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT $100
* FinecoBank Raised to Hold at Jefferies; PT 13 euros
* Krones Raised to Buy at Hauck & Aufhaeuser; PT 125 euros (+)
* Metso Oyj PT Raised to 14.25 euros from 13.75 euros at RBC
* Netflix PT Raised to $500 from $440 at Cowen (+)
* PostNL Raised to Buy at ING; PT 2 euros
* Segro Raised to Buy at Goodbody; PT 840 pence
* Severn Trent Raised to Buy at Investec; PT 2,975 pence
* Swedbank Raised to Buy at Berenberg; PT 240 kronor

>>> Down
* Bachem Cut to Reduce at Baader Helvea; PT 86 Swiss francs
* Banca Generali Cut to Hold at Jefferies; PT 33.80 euros
* Billerud PT Cut to 95 kronor from 125 kronor at Jefferies
* Diageo Cut to Neutral at Goldman; PT 3,700 pence
* Diageo ADRs Cut to Neutral at Goldman; PT $186.48
* HMS Networks Cut to Sell at ABG; PT 450 kronor
* Prodways Cut to Underperform at Oddo BHF; PT 2 euros (+)
* Tristel Cut to Hold at Investec; PT 448 pence (+)

>>> Initiation
* AB Foods Rated New Outperform at Bernstein; PT 2,500 pence
* ADP Reinstated Hold at SocGen; PT 144 euros
* Altea Green Power Rated New Buy at Intesa Sanpaolo; PT 6 euros (+)
* AQ Group Rated New Buy at SEB Equities; PT 525 kronor
* Barratt Resumed Neutral at Redburn (+)
* Bellway Resumed Neutral at Redburn (+)
* Berkeley Resumed Buy at Redburn (+)
* Crest Nicholson Resumed Neutral at Redburn (+)
* CRH Resumed Buy at Redburn (+)
* Ferguson Resumed Buy at Redburn (+)
* Fraport Rated New Hold at SocGen; PT 52 euros
* H&M Rated New Underperform at Bernstein; PT 110 kronor
* Inditex Rated New Outperform at Bernstein; PT 38 euros
* Next Rated New Market Perform at Bernstein; PT 7,000 pence
* Persimmon Resumed Neutral at Redburn (+)
* Redrow Resumed Buy at Redburn (+)
* SKF Rated New Underperform at Oddo BHF; PT 175 kronor
* Taylor Wimpey Resumed Buy at Redburn (+)
* Zalando Rated New Underperform at Bernstein; PT 21 euros
* Zurich Airport Rated New Buy at SocGen; PT 234 Swiss francs

>>> Call
* Bachem Cut to Reduce at Baader on Capital Intensity, FX Drag
* Colruyt Upgraded at Barclays on Better Earnings Momentum (+)
* Diageo Downgraded at Goldman on Weakening US Spirits Outlook (+)
* Mediolanum Top Pick at Jefferies, Fineco Raised, Generali Cut
* Swedbank Raised at Berenberg on Underappreciated Returns Outlook
* Viaplay Remains Buy at Citi, Says Downside Looks ‘Overdone’ (+)

>>> Stoxx 600 Pre-Market Indications

  • Vodafone (VODI TH) +1.2%
    • The Fate of Vodafone-Three Merger Lies With One Key UK Regulator
  • Imperial Brands (ITB TH) +1.1%
  • Hugo Boss (BOSS TH) +1%
    • Hugo Boss Sees 2025 Ebit at Least EU600M, 2025 Sales of EU5B
  • BAT (BMT TH) +0.8%
  • TUI (TUI1 TH) +0.6%
  • Maersk (DP4B TH) +0.6%
  • BMW (BMW TH) -0.7%
  • Munich Re (MUV2 TH) -0.7%
  • Sartorius (SRT3 TH) -0.7%
  • Delivery Hero (DHER TH) -0.7%
  • MTU Aero (MTX TH) -0.8%
  • Thyssenkrupp (TKA TH) -0.8%
  • BNP Paribas (BNP TH) -0.8%
    • Watch European Banks as Fed Pauses Hikes, Ahead of ECB Decision
  • Ferrari (2FE TH) -0.9%
  • Rio Tinto (RIO1 TH) -1.3%
    • Watch Europe Miners as Commodity Prices Slip on Weak China Data
  • Zalando (ZAL TH) -2.7%
    • Zalando Rated New Underperform at Bernstein; PT 21 euros

>>> TradeGate Pr-Market Indications

DAX:
  • SAP (SAP TH) -0.5%
  • Covestro (1COV TH) -0.5%
  • MTU Aero (MTX TH) -0.6%
  • BMW (BMW TH) -0.7%
  • Zalando (ZAL TH) -2.5%
    • Zalando Rated New Underperform at Bernstein; PT 21 euros
MDAX:
  • Hugo Boss (BOSS TH) +1%
    • Hugo Boss Sees 2025 Ebit at Least EU600M, 2025 Sales of EU5B
  • TAG Immobilien (TEG TH) +0.5%
  • Lufthansa (LHA TH) -0.5%
  • Thyssenkrupp (TKA TH) -0.7%
SDAX:
  • SFC Energy (F3C TH) +1.4%
    • SFC Energy AG and ZeroAlpha Solutions received call-off orders of framework agreement with NATO Support
  • GFT (GFT TH) +1.3%
  • Varta (VAR1 TH) +1%
  • Heidelberger Druck (HDD TH) +0.6%
  • VERBIO Vereinigte (VBK TH) +0.6%
  • SGL (SGL TH) -0.9%
  • Wacker Neuson (WAC TH) -0.9%
  • MorphoSys (MOR TH) -1.8%
  • Atoss Software (AOF TH) -11%
    • General Atlantic to Buy ~20% of Shares in Atoss Software

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 15th of June 2023

>>> Up
* Accenture Raised to Neutral at Piper Sandler; PT $316
* Colruyt Raised to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 30 euros
* Emerson Electric Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT $100
* FinecoBank Raised to Hold at Jefferies; PT 13 euros
* Metso Oyj PT Raised to 14.25 euros from 13.75 euros at RBC
* PostNL Raised to Buy at ING; PT 2 euros
* Segro Raised to Buy at Goodbody; PT 840 pence
* Severn Trent Raised to Buy at Investec; PT 2,975 pence
* Swedbank Raised to Buy at Berenberg; PT 240 kronor

>>> Down
* Bachem Cut to Reduce at Baader Helvea; PT 86 Swiss francs
* Banca Generali Cut to Hold at Jefferies; PT 33.80 euros
* Billerud PT Cut to 95 kronor from 125 kronor at Jefferies
* Diageo Cut to Neutral at Goldman; PT 3,700 pence
* Diageo ADRs Cut to Neutral at Goldman; PT $186.48
* HMS Networks Cut to Sell at ABG; PT 450 kronor

>>> Initiation
* AB Foods Rated New Outperform at Bernstein; PT 2,500 pence
* ADP Reinstated Hold at SocGen; PT 144 euros
* AQ Group Rated New Buy at SEB Equities; PT 525 kronor
* Fraport Rated New Hold at SocGen; PT 52 euros
* H&M Rated New Underperform at Bernstein; PT 110 kronor
* Inditex Rated New Outperform at Bernstein; PT 38 euros
* Next Rated New Market Perform at Bernstein; PT 7,000 pence
* SKF Rated New Underperform at Oddo BHF; PT 175 kronor
* Zalando Rated New Underperform at Bernstein; PT 21 euros
* Zurich Airport Rated New Buy at SocGen; PT 234 Swiss francs

>>> Call
* Bachem Cut to Reduce at Baader on Capital Intensity, FX Drag
* Mediolanum Top Pick at Jefferies, Fineco Raised, Generali Cut
* Swedbank Raised at Berenberg on Underappreciated Returns Outlook

>>> What to look at today - 15th of June 2023

Asian stocks climbed Thursday after the Federal Reserve paused monetary tightening and China’s central bank cut a key lending rate to support its struggling economy.  Hong Kong’s benchmark index and Japanese equities advanced. Australian shares recovered after initially paring gains on strong jobs data that bolstered the case for further interest rate hikes from the central bank.  The dollar rose while the offshore yuan extended losses and the yen dropped to the lowest level since November. The weakness in the Japanese currency prompted a warning from Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno that excessive movements weren’t desirable. Treasury yields ticked higher. Australia’s sovereign yield curve inverted for the first time since the financial crisis as policy-sensitive three-year rates surged on the employment figures.  The S&P 500 had gained just 0.1% on Wednesday after Fed chief Jerome Powell said nearly all Fed officials expected it would be appropriate to raise interest rates “somewhat further” in 2023. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7%, bringing its gain since the start of the year to 37%. With a pause and hawkish outlook from the Fed widely anticipated, much of the focus in the Asian trading session is on China. The People’s Bank of China cutting its medium-term lending facility rate paves the way for banks to lower lending rates next week. The PBOC’s move also forms part of broader stimulus efforts to support real estate and domestic demand. Data showing retail sales slowed more than expected in May added to worries about further slowing in China. Industrial production was also lower but met consensus forecasts.  Economic troubles in New Zealand were also rippling through markets Thursday, with the nation’s sovereign bond yields falling after gross domestic product data showed the country fell into a recession in the first quarter following an aggressive run of policy tightening. Oil extended a drop driven by a surprise jump in US crude stockpiles and the Fed’s hawkish outlook. US After Hours Relatively hushed after-hours session; POWW +11.8%, LEN +2.2% both up on earnings; TRUE +9.7% higher on restructuring; Crypto-related names edging lower in sympathy with tumbling Bitcoin price.

Nikkei +0,52% Hang Seng +0,83% CSI +0,54% Shanghai +0,09% Shenzen +0,55%

Eur$ 1,0813 CNH 7,1770 CNY 7,1698 JPY 141,19 GBP 1,2641 CHF 0,9036 RUB 83,9899 TRY 23,5791 WTI$ 68,03 Gold 1,935 BTC 25,045 ETH 1,652

S&P +0,01% Nasdaq -0,02% EuroStoxx -0,25% FTSE -0,28% Dax -0,27% SMI -0,01%

Macro :
- Powell Dances Between Pause and Hikes in Communication Two-Step
- China’s Central Bank Ramps Up Rate Cuts as Economy Weakens
- Erdogan Backs New Economic Team But Won’t Change Rates View
- Morgan Stanley’s Wilson Sees US Profit Recession Persisting
- Moelis Sees Signs M&A Market Is Improving, Plans More Hiring
- Macron Calls for French AI Innovation as EU Votes to Regulate
- BOE Rate Setter Calls for ‘Fundamental Revisit’ of UK-EU Trade

Keep an eye on :
- AOF GY : General Atlantic to Buy ~20% of Shares in Atoss Software
- ASC LN : Asos Keeps Expectations Unchanged
- BALYO FP : SoftBank Group Offers to Buy Balyo at €0.85/Shr
- BBVA SM : BBVA Issues €1b Preferred Contingently Convertible Securities
- BETSB SS : Betsson Buys betFIRST for EU120 Million
- CAVA US : Cava IPO Prices at $22/Share, Above $19-$20 Range
- CO FP : Casino Says Fimalac Considering Participating in Capital Raise
- CO FP : Daniel Kretinsky Could Boost Offer for Casino: Les Echos
- ELIMP NO : Elektroimportoren Offering of 5.2m Shares Prices at NOK23/Share
- ENSU NO : Ensurge Micropower Offers Shares at NOK0.10/Share
- FLS DC : FLSmidth to Sell Non-Core Activities Segment to Koch Solutions
- FRAS LN : Mike Ashley Raises Frasers Group Voting Rights to 72.46%
- BOSS GY : Hugo Boss Sees 2025 Ebit at Least EU600M, 2025 Sales of EU5B
- IBM US : IBM to Upgrade Quantum Computing After Processing Breakthrough
- JTC LN : JTC Agrees to Buy TC3 Group for Up to $270m
- MRK GY : Merck KGaA Granted FDA Orphan Drug Status for Cladribine
- MOBA NO : Morrow Bank Offering of 22.2m Shares Prices at NOK4.50/Share
- NHY NO : Elemental Alu Seeks to Buy 45.84% in Alumetal at PLN83.7 Apiece
- PARO FP : Partouche, Betsson in Pact For Online Casino Services in Belgium
- PHIA NA : Philips to Buy Back up to 7.1m Shares for Incentive Plans
- SIE GY : Siemens to Make €2 Billion Investment to Boost High-Tech Plants
- SWON SW : Bain Offers to Buy SoftwareOne for $3.2 Billion
- TSCO LN : UK’s Sunak Scraps Plan for Supermarket Price Cap: Telegraph
- TSLA US : Macron to Meet Elon Musk in Paris on Friday to Discuss Batteries
- HO FP : France’s Thales to Restart Production of Starstreak Missile: WSJ
- VACN SW : VAT Introduces Short Time Work for Some Employees in Switzerland
- VIV FP : Telecom Italia Appoints Pansa to Board, Rejects Carta

WSJ : Rosé Sales Are Declining, But These 5 Bottles Still Sell Out

Rosé Sales Are Declining, But These 5 Bottles Still Sell Out
Wine retailers are reporting a dip in rosé sales overall, but certain bottles continue to sell steadily—for good reason. Our wine columnist picks pinks that truly warrant their popularity.

ARE WE in the middle of rosé malaise? According to the retailers I talked with, the answer is yes…with an asterisk. Thanks to the rise of competing drinks (hard seltzer, canned cocktails), continuing Covid fallout and a boom in production all over the world that helped fuel a rosé glut, rosé sales are definitely less robust than in years past. Yet certain rosés are selling well. Indeed, some wines seem to be veritably malaise-proof.

At Crush Wine & Spirits in New York, I found a dozen or so rosés on display, but, according to Crush wine director Joe Salamone, he had many more just two years ago. “I scaled way back in 2022,” he said. The Covid shutdown curtailed in-store shopping, which put a big dent in rosé sales, and demand has yet to fully rebound. But, Salamone added, some labels still sell well. “Provence still rules,” he said.

Salamone named three Provençal wines as perennial bestsellers: the 2022 Peyrassol Les Commandeurs Côtes de Provence rosé ($25), the 2022 Château Pradeaux Bandol rosé ($27) and the 2022 Domaine du Bagnol Cassis rosé ($27). One non-Provencal pink, the 2022 Bernard Baudry Le Rosé Chinon rosé ($24), from the Loire Valley, is a consistent favorite as well. Another favorite, the Domaine Tempier Bandol rosé, was out of stock.

Jeffrey Wolfe, proprietor of Wolfe’s Wine Shoppe in Coral Gables, Fla., said that the Florida market has been so inundated with rosé “from every planetary system” during the past couple of years that it took some time to sell out. His perennial bestsellers include two from Provence: the 2022 Clos Ste Magdeleine Cassis rosé ($38) and the 2021 Domaine Tempier Bandol rosé ($59). One domestic bottling, too, consistently moves: the 2022 Arnot-Roberts Rosé ($30).

Daniel Posner of Grapes the Wine Company in White Plains, N.Y., still sells a fair amount of rosé “but definitely less than we used to.” By contrast, he added, “Canned cocktails are HOT.” The French pinks that sell well at Grapes include the aforementioned 2022 Peyrassol Les Commandeurs Côtes de Provence rosé and the 2022 Triennes Rosé ($17).

At Metro Wines in Asheville, N.C., rosé sales are down, but France remains the highest in sales in the category, reported co-proprietor Gina Trippi. She shared an analysis of rosé sales that Metro store manager Zach Eidson put together. It attributed reduced rosé sales to worldwide shipping delays. Sales of rosés overall were down by 12% last year, and have dipped similarly this year. Eidson also noted that there has been competing customer interest in skin-contact white wines, whose sales are up a whopping 230% year-over-year in 2023; they were up 140% the year prior. The French rosés that still sell well at Metro include the Domaine Houchart Côtes de Provence rosé ($17) and the 2022 Moulin de Gassac Guilhem rosé ($12 at Metro Wines; I paid $10 in New Jersey), from Languedoc, France.

Gary Fisch—founder and CEO of Gary’s Wine & Marketplace, which has locations in New Jersey and Napa Valley—also noted the delayed shipment of rosés last year: “A lot of ’21s didn’t get here until August.” That meant months of lost sales. Sancerre sales, meanwhile, are “through the roof.” In fact, Sauvignon Blanc from all over the world is hot. One rosé remains a standout: “Whispering Angel, by a large margin, is our number one rosé,” said Fisch. (This wine, from Château d’Esclans, sells for $22 at his stores.)

Whispering Angel isn’t selling so well at Total Wine & More’s 249 stores across the country—nor are rosés from California and Italy—but other French rosés are selling well, said Brian Gelb, vice president of wine merchandising and marketing. He singled out a few consistent sellers, including the 2022 Gérard Bertrand Cote des Roses rosé and the 2021 Rosé D’Anjou from Famille Bougrier ($15), a direct import wine from Total Wine. “We’ve seen double-digit growth on this item.”
How good are the rosés retailers say are their most reliable? To find out, I bought 14 of the wines that retailers named, at prices ranging between $10 and $27 a bottle.

The best of the less-expensive rosés was the 2022 Moulin de Gassac Guilhem rosé ($10), a blend of Cinsault, Carignan and Grenache produced in the Languedoc region in a partnership between the Guibert family of the famed Mas de Daumas Gassac and local growers. Light and pretty, it’s been one of my reliable, inexpensive, dry rosés for many years. Bonus for easy-breezy summer drinking: It comes in a screw cap.

How good are the rosés retailers say are the most reliable?
A couple of slightly pricier pinks were also quite pleasant. The 2022 Gérard Bertrand Cote des Roses rosé was a light, berry-inflected blend from the Bertrand empire, which turns out a good amount of well-made, reasonably priced wine in various appellations in France. The 2022 Triennes Rosé was fresh, and uncomplicatedly delicious, while the pale-salmon 2022 Château d’Esclans Whispering Angel rosé ($20) was quite light-bodied, more aperitif than food wine, with an attractive floral note. (Launched by Sacha Lichine in 2006, Whispering Angel is often credited as the dry rosé that created the rosé craze.)
The next three rosés were a bit more complex. The Grenache-dominant 2022 Peyrassol Les Commandeurs Côtes de Provence rosé, the entry-level rosé from a great Provençal estate, had a brisk acidity and aromas of red fruit. The crisp 2022 Domaine du Bagnol Cassis rosé was marked by a lovely mineral note. And the terrifically juicy 2022 Bernard Baudry Le Rosé Chinon rosé, a bit fuller-bodied, was my favorite rosé with food.

I was not, unfortunately, able to taste the Domaine Tempier Bandol rosé, as the 2022 vintage won’t arrive until later this summer, according to Anthony Lynch, sourcing manager of Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Tempier’s longtime importer. But I do have some Tempier from last year in my cellar. This rosé is not only a reliable seller; it’s also a terrific wine for those who know it’s one rosé that actually gets better with time.


1. 2022 Château d’Esclans Whispering Angel Rosé, $22. Whispering Angel is one of several wines under the Château d’Esclans label. This soft, pink, Provençal drink, created in 2006, helped to create a market for dry rosé stateside.
2. 2022 Peyrassol Les Commandeurs Côtes de Provence Rosé, $25. At 819 years old, Peyrassol is one of the oldest estates in Provence and a name synonymous with quality rosé. This crisp, elegant pink produced from organic fruit is Peyrassol’s entry-level rosé.
3. 2022 Domaine du Bagnol Cassis Rosé, $27. This wonderfully minerally rosé marked by floral and red fruit aromas is produced in the Cassis subregion of Provence. The domaine is a mere 200 meters from the Mediterranean Sea.

4. Gérard Bertrand Cote des Roses Rosé, $15. The bottle is a pleasure to behold. (Bertrand definitely knows how to market rosé.) The wine inside—a zesty dry blend of Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah—is also a pleasure to drink.
5. 2022 Moulin de Gassac Guilhem Rosé, $10. Produced in a partnership between the Guibert family of the famed Mas de Daumas Gassac estate and a large group of Languedoc grape growers, this is a lively, light-bodied pink.