Clos19: the online shop selling fine wine, champagne and spirits

When Stephanie Watine-Arnault experienced her ‘light-bulb’ moment, she was visiting the cellars of the Veuve Clicquot Manoir de Verzy in the Champagne region of France. The legendary brand, with its zingy orange label, established by the wealthy widow Madame Clicquot in 1772, has a carefully chronicled history. In the archives, Watine-Arnault, who was working for Veuve Clicquot’s parent company, Moët Hennessy, the drinks arm of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, came across correspondence between the entrepreneurial Madame and her many export customers in the shape of a carnet commande or ‘order book’.

‘We had this direct bonding with customers,’ she says over mint tea when we meet at the London Edition. The book prompted the 33-year-old niece of Bernard Arnault, French billionaire and chairman and CEO of LVMH, to consider how the company could connect with today’s shoppers in the same way. What if she could recreate that personal touch in the modern world, she wondered — building a digital community of customers akin to that nurtured by Madame Clicquot?

And so Clos19.com was born. An online retail and lifestyle platform for all the champagnes, fine wines and spirits that are made and owned by Moët Hennessy and LVMH, it launches this month and promises to shake up the British drinks market in a major way. Marks and names include Veuve Clicquot, Moët & Chandon, Krug, Dom Perignon and Ruinart in champagnes; Cloudy Bay, Château d’Yquem, Clos des Lambrays in wines; and Hennessy, Belvedere vodka, Ardbeg and Glenmorangie in spirits. The site will not compete with other vendors on price: bottles range from £13 for a Mini Moët to £8,500 for Methuselah Dom Perignon Rose Vintage 2002 (6l). Instead, its USP will be as a one-stop shop, offering premium drinks as well as glassware, accessories and ‘experiences’ such as wine tastings or trips to champagne houses. There will also be an artfully directed digital magazine, Journal19.

The Clos name (from the French for ‘closure’) is derived from the walled vineyards used to protect grapes from theft and improve growing conditions, while the numeric alludes to the development of the art de vivre in the 19th century and the democratisation of champagne, wine and spirits. ‘The mission is to champion the art of hosting — a gathering is a special occasion and we all want to offer something different, personal.’

With her blonde, gently curled hair, and in a long-sleeved fit-and-flare Dior black dress with a red heart embroidered on the chest, Watine-Arnault doesn’t look much older than the legal drinking age. But her business savvy is clear. Born in the northern French city of Roubaix and brought up in Paris from the age of seven, she holds a degree from the prestigious Paris Dauphine University, where she specialised in marketing and strategy, as well as an MBA from Insead business school in Fontainebleau — and has had years of experience within LVMH, which represents over 70 brands in fashion, leather goods, perfumes, cosmetics and jewellery and recorded revenue of €37.6bn in 2016.

She spent four years working in the accessories division of Marc Jacobs in New York and Paris, marketing and range-planning small leather goods, and two years getting ‘hands on’ experience as the divisional sales manager for Louis Vuitton menswear in its Bond Street flagship store.Her move into drinks came about four years ago, after she applied for a position at the UK Moët Hennessy division in Mayfair to head up retail innovations in the UK. It was then that she spotted the gap in the market that she hopes Clos19 will fill.

As a member of Bernard Arnault’s wider family, there was no obligation to enter the business. But you can imagine that the schooling in the finer things started young. With her mother, Dominique Watine-Arnault who ran the Watine-Arnault auction house, she was a regular at the Dior boutique in Paris. Every Sunday, they would gather at the home of one or other set of grandparents. ‘My grandmothers would often open a half bottle of champagne before lunch and allow me a little sip. It shapes your palate.’

Her cousins Antoine Arnault (CEO of Berluti and board member of Lora Piana), Delphine Arnault (director and vice president of Louis Vuitton), Alexandre Arnault (joint chief executive at Rimowa), and her brother, Ludovic Watine-Arnault (Dior digital), all work for the group. ‘We try not to talk business when we all meet,’ she smiles.

Today, she lives in South Kensington and enjoys dining at Sexy Fish, Berners Tavern and Lyles in Shoreditch. She also frequently entertains at home. ‘My tip is to have everything prepared. There is nothing worse than attending a party when the host is not present. I love fresh-cut flowers everywhere and Krug champagne.’ One can imagine that her forthcoming nuptials to her French civil engineer fiancé will be extremely well catered for. For the record, she listens to Britpop in the shower — it’s not hard to guess which Oasis track amuses her most.

Though it will roll out to Germany, interestingly there are no immediate plans to launch Clos19 in France, where good independent cavistes can be found in the smallest of rural towns. Still, it’s a clever, timely launch. The online drinks market is looking increasingly busy with supermarkets, Deliveroo and specialists such as Borough Wines all offering to deliver directly to your door. Factor in the growing taste for niche craft distilleries and decreasing alcohol consumption among millenials — and this seems the perfect way for Moët Hennessy’s brands to up their game and remain relevant and aspirational. By Christmas, Watine-Arnault will have added in a service providing barmen and mixologists to cater for events in London.

Those with a very generous budget might be tempted by the specialist trips they will offer, including a tasting in Antarctica or an eight-day adventure to visit the site of the RMS Titanic shipwreck that lies off the coast of Newfoundland (costing £70,000). ‘In five years, the goal is to make Clos19 represent four per cent of Moët Hennessy sales in the UK market,’ she adds. ‘But of course if you buy your Veuve Clicquot or Moët & Chandon at Sainsbury’s or in a restaurant, we are also happy!’ Moët Hennessy has launched Clos19 as an online lifestyle retail brand offering services, products and experiences from the champagne, wines and spirits world of LVMH.