Wine Bordeaux News

Bordeaux Wine News

2009-03-07T09:29:00.000Z

http://bordeauxwinenews.blogsudouest.com

GOOD BARGAINS TO BE HAD AT THE BORDEAUX AUCTIONS :

2009-03-07T00:08:00.004Z

Wine sales : the Bordeaux auction rooms regularly provide amateurs with the opportunity to start or build up their cellars with wines at very competitive prices :

There are several ways to start a wine cellar. One of them is through auction sales which allow the consumer the chance to find rare wines or to buy up batches of bottles at reasonable prices. This was the case recently at the Bordeaux Chartrons saleroom. The auction, which was organised by Yann Baratoux esq, auctioneer, witnessed a fierce battle between two rival bidders (one in the auction room, the other on the telephone) over a bottle of 1937 Château d'Yquem. The reserve price for this rare bottle was 200 euros.

In the end, the telephone bidder walked away with it for 1250 euros. Although this seems a high price to pay, it is actually considerably less than that of an identical bottle valued on the various wine sales websites.

This sale was comprised of 600 lots, from different sources and backgrounds. Some of the lots contained one single bottle. Most, however, were from a personal cellar full of mature vintages and fine classified growth wines.

This is a regular happening in Bordeaux, and a good chance to add some rare pearls to one's cellar as the wine auctions are open to the public. However, potential bidders should be vigilant about the condition of the bottles up for auction. The catalogue usually mentions the wine level in the bottle-neck which is the primary indicator of the wine's quality after several years or decades of ageing. At the start of the recent auction, Bernard Brun, who is a wine broker, gave his expert opinion on the colour of the wines presented. Nothing was known, however, about the conditions in which the wines had been kept and left to age.

To prove that there are some very good bargains to be had at the auctions (provided your bid is successful of course), during the morning of the recent auction at the Chartrons salesroom, five bottles of 1970 Canon La Gaffelière (Saint-Emilion classified growth) whose reserve price was 20 euros each, were bought for 25 euros a piece. Christies' website values them at between 180 and 240 euros a bottle. Three lots of twelve bottles Château Pape Clément (Pessac-Léognan classifed growth) from 1983, 1981 and 1978 went for 25, 30 and 35 euros respectively per bottle, considerably less than their average retail price.

Even more striking was the price difference for a bottle of 1986 Pétrus whose reserve price was 500 euros and which went for a mere 550 euros.

This rarity can be found on the Internet at prices ranging from 1300 to 1500 euros a piece!

For the more modest bidders, there were also less prestigious wines from the Bordeaux Supérieur, Lalande de Pomerol and Médoc appellations from the early 2000's vintages which are both good to drink now or to lay down for several more years, going for 3 to 10 euros a bottle. Food for thought in today's economic context....

Author:
Jean Pierre. Tamisier

doc@sudouest.com
S.O. 06/03/09

Translated by Maxine Colas.

Bordeaux Wine News

2009-03-03T08:42:00.000Z

http://bordeauxwinenews.blogsudouest.com

CRU BOURGEOIS : ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY :

2009-02-28T10:49:00.003Z

Exactly two years ago, on the 27th February 2007, the Bordeaux tribunal announced the cancellation of the Médoc cru bourgeois classification created in 2003.

This decision shook the region like an earthquake. Twenty-four months later, the same cru bourgeois estates are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Yesterday, Thierry Gardinier (photo) and his team presented the new game rules which will enable this value-adding label to exist again.

Thierry Gardinier is the owner of Château Phélan-Ségur (A.O.C Saint-Estèphe) and president of Alliance, union for the promotion of the cru bourgeois label, which regroups some 320 cru bourgeois properties.

180 pages of regulations :

"We have worked very hard to produce the necessary specifications and checklist, both of which must be as irreproachable as possible. It was unthinkable that the Médoc should lose this noble qualification and therefore necessary to give the label a legal basis," argues Thierry Gardinier.

Indeed the specifications and quality checks, the list of which will be finalised at a general meeting to be held at the end of March, contain a degree of precision rarely reached in the wine world until now. It must be remembered that in 2007, the previous selection proceedures were appealed against by some of the candidates and, as a result, the Cru Bourgeois classification was cancelled, as was that of Saint-Emilion in 2006 for the same reasons. In fact the latter's future still lies in the hands of the courts...

The 180 page regulation checklist specifies the necessary qualifications for candidates wishing to obtain the cru bourgeois label, or "cru bourgeois recognition" as it is now officially named, for their 2008 vintage.

The checklist covers everything from minimum vineyard surface areas (with a mandatory visit to the property) to a hand-picked jury of professional tasters who will establish a quality level to which candidate wines will be measured, using a specific tasting card. There are also strict rules concerning samples and numbers of bottles released on the market.

As many details as possible are there, in black and white, to avoid the possibility of court action in the event of a complaint....

A grand entrance :

The cru bourgeois classification will be revised annually and this only emphasises the need to have strict and impeccable control over the selection. For this reason, Alliance has chosen Véritas, a well known and respected audit company, specialised in regulating and certifying specifications. Hence Véritas makes its grand entrance into the wine world.

"This will be a union of two cultures, that of the wine industry, with its continual search for product quality, and that of Véritas, with its quest for strict control," says Thierry Gardinier, who adds, " Our label will no longer be a commercial 'crutch' for mediocre wine growers. We are counting on wine merchants to adhere to our policy of quality.

We have secured a maximum of proceedures in the selection process so that the label will be credible to clients." Indeed the main objective here is to regain consumer confidence. And there will be no cru bourgeois on the French market for less than 5 euros a bottle.

Author:
César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com
S.O. 27/02/09

Translated by Maxine Colas.

http://bordeauxwinenews.blogsudouest.com

A NEW LIFE FOR THE MEDOC CRUS BOURGEOIS :

2009-02-17T22:31:00.002Z

Two years after the cancellation of the classification, the value-adding notion of "cru bourgeois" will be reinstated via an annual tasting supervised by the company Veritas :

The Médoc crus bourgeois classification which was created in 2003, was cancelled by the Bordeaux administrative court of appeal two years ago in February 2007. This decision came after several properties which had not been awarded the cru bourgeois label, submitted a complaint to the court about the jury's methods of evaluation.

Unlike the case of the Saint-Emilion classification, whose future is still in the hands of the law courts, the Médoc crus bourgeois label has ceased to exist since 2007.

However, the new schedule of conditions which will legally allow the cru bourgeois label to be awarded come into effect within the next few weeks in time for the arrival of the 2007 vintage on the market.

New European laws on the use of quality distinctions for wines are on the agenda but, in the meantime, 2007 - like 2006 - will be exceptionally permitted to use the mention cru bourgeois. This 'favour' has no legal basis but has been granted the consent of the French Bureau for Consumers, Competition and Repression of Fraud.

"First of all, candidate properties from the eight Médoc A.O.C areas concerned (A.O.C. Médoc, Haut-Médoc, Margaux, Moulis, Listrac, Saint-Julien, Pauillac and Saint-Estèphe) will submit a formal request of eligibility. Veritas agents, with whom we are working, will visit all the properties," explains Frédérique de Lamothe, who is the manager of the Alliance syndicate. This organism groups together some 320 cru bourgeois estates. It is important to note that the 2003 classification had awarded cru bourgeois status to 247 properties out of the total 491 candidates.

"Each request will be downloaded onto our website and the visits will be carried out from April until December this year," says Frédérique who has been fighting over the last two years to find a solution to the crisis created in 2007.

The level of consumer (French or foreign) confidence in the cru bourgeois label is at stake. The aim is that this new label "recognised cru bourgeois" ensures a superior quality wine. This was not always the case in the 1990's and was the reason why the first official classification (valid for a 10 year period) came into being in 2003.

Annual tasting :

A jury made up of independant professional tasters will examine the wines of candidate properties every year. Samples will be submitted in February 2010, followed by the offical tastings. For each vintage a "stallion" (French : étalon) wine will serve as a quality reference basis. As the art of tasting is a complex and sometimes subjective one, this reference wine will set the cru bourgeois quality standard to which all the wines competing will be compared, favorably or unfavorably.

A work group has been set up in Pauillac to start tasting the 2007 vintage at the moment.

The cru bourgeois classification will therefore be revised annually not only via a tasting but also a schedule of conditions and a checklist which cover several dozen pages : including minimum surface areas under production, vat-room characteristics, presentation of the estate in question, barrel samples, organisation of tastings, quality of labelling....

The aim is to "secure" the classification process in case unhappy proprietors decide to appeal to the courts again for unfair treatment...This is especially important because, contrary to the other French classification and appellation systems which are regulated by public law, the cru bourgeois label will come under private law.

Credibility :

In order to ensure that the cru bourgeois label will inspire confidence and credibility thus permitting these properties to rejoin the ranks of the Médoc élite (with of course the 1855 classified growths), the choice of a suitable company to monitor the classification procedure was essential.

Véritas has a world-wide reputation for inspection, auditing and authentification. The company was founded almost 200 years ago, employs 33 000 people in 850 offices around the world with a turnover of 2,5 billion euros in 2008 (+23% up on 2007).

In the Blaye area, where there are still a dozen cru bourgeois properties and in Sauternes, where growers would like to see a similar classification, many will be studying the progress of the Médoc châteaux...

(photo : Professional tasting of the Médoc crus bourgeois at Château Malleret during the 2008 ' futures' week in April 2008.)

Author:
César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com
S.O. 17/02/09

Translated by Maxine Colas.

http://bordeauxwinenews.blogsudouest.com

IS THIS THE FINAL EPISODE IN THE SAINT-EMILION CLASSIFICATION SAGA?

2009-02-13T18:17:00.003Z

The Bordeaux administrative court of appeal could reinstate the great growths classification of Saint-Emilion which was cancelled last year :

The Saint-Emilion classification has been through troubled times in the past year : suspension, cancellation, chambers referal, legal amendments and a constitutional advisory committee...The legal imbroglio surrounding the hierarchy of the great estates of Saint-Emilion which was declared invalid last year by the administrative tribunal, may finally have come to an end.

Yesterday, Patrice Lerner, who is the spokesman for the Bordeaux administrative court of appeal, announced the partial cancellation of the 2006 - 2016 classification. If this is the case, the 61 distinguished classified growth and first classified growth estates and among them the eight châteaux which were promoted to classified growth status in 2006 will all be reinstated. The eight properties which lost their classified status in 2006 and which appealed against this decision, will be given the chance to recover their classification because each case will be re-examined by the classification committee.

The basic problem of inequality remains : this concerns the manner in which the contestants' wines were tasted and compared during the last classification in 2006. From the beginning of the tasting, which involved a total of 95 candidates, the classification committee had separated the wines from the 66 estates who were candidates for renewal of their classifed status from those who were competing for a chance to become classified growths. The committee argued that this method enabled the tasters to have a "quality reference level" to which the wines were compared.
"This was unequal differentiation," explains Patrice Lerner. The 1996 - 2006 classification should not have been taken into account in judging the new classification. "The tastings were not done anonymously", regrets Jean-Philippe Magret, who is defense lawyer for two châteaux who were de-classified, Croque-Michotte and La Tour du Pin Figeac. The first A and B classified growths which are the appellation's élite, were clearly visible because they were merely there to renew their status at the top of the hierarchy.

Legal subtlety :

A "grand cru classé" label ensures a price increase of 30% on a bottle and doubles the real estate value per hectare. These are arguments put firmly forward by those in charge of the appellation system, especially since the classfied hierarchy has been under threat.
There were sighs of relief yesterday after spokesman Patrice Lerner explained that it was not a question of erasing the 2006 - 2016 classification by the mere signing of a document.
The legal reasoning behind this statement is founded on the distinction between the competition and the examination.
In the first case, the candidates' wines are compared to eachother. In the second case, candidates are judged in relation to a level of quality. If the classification tasting is considered to be a competition, then any proved discrimination would invalidate the whole proceedure.
If, however, the tasting was considered to be an examination, only the jury's decision concerning the penalised candidates would be invalid.

As there is a limit to the number of châteaux admitted into the classified élite (not more than 90), surely the classification tasting is more a competition than an exam?
"We must put things into perspective. There were only 95 candidates after all," says Patrice Lerner, who lays emphasis on the fact that the jury made decisions based on the "quality reference level" . Where there is a level, there is surely an examination with a pass or a fail in relation to that reference level.....

"Either this classification is legally acceptable or it is not. There must be a clear decision," demands Philippe Thevenin, who is defending Châteaux Cadet Bon, Guadet-Saint-Julien and Lamarzelle.
The proprietors of these châteaux and the rest of those who 'failed' to pass the jury's tasting test, are not particularly reassured by the idea of having to take the exam again. They have not minced their words during this affair and the jury is well aware of that.

As Jean-Claude Martin, defense lawyer for one of the châteaux, said yesterday :"Everyone admits it. Bordeaux wines are getting better and better in terms of quality. However, there are less and less great classified growths in Saint-Emilion : 61 today as opposed to 84 in 1969. People are no longer thinking about the wine itself. All they think about is money. This classification is actually no more than a élitist club of brand-names whose hope is to find Château Ausone or Château Cheval Blanc on tables for 1200 - 1500 euros a bottle."

Author:
d.Richard

doc@sudouest.com
S.O. 13/02/09

Translated by Maxine Colas.

http://bordeauxwinenews.blogsudouest.com

Bordeaux Wine News

2009-02-13T08:43:00.001Z

http://bordeauxwinenews.blogsudouest.com

GOOD FOR THE HEART :

2009-02-12T21:06:00.005Z

At last, some heart-warming news for wine lovers just in time for Valentine's Day!

A healthy attitude :
Following studies showing that moderate wine consumption is beneficial to health, Stéphane Courrèges, a Bordeaux oenologist and his Akima (photo), are marketing their wine "Corazon" which is rich in polyphenols.

The scientific world has come to the unanimous conclusion that regular but moderate drinking of wine, with a well-balanced meal, is good for your health : Three glasses for a man and two for a woman per day, with one day's abstinence per week is a recipe for a healthy (and longer) life.
Indeed, the "French paradox" - idea promoted by Professor Serge Renaud who ,after a brilliant international career, is now retired and living in the Gironde area - is still very much alive.

"We read everything that had been written on the subject of wine and health and decided to launch our "health wine" project in 2004," explains Sréphane Courrèges, who, not without a certain amount of nostalgia, recalls "..when I was a child, my grandfather used to pour an inch of wine in my glass, saying how good it was for my future health."

Stéphane, who lives in the Bordeaux area, is a consultant oenologist for some twenty Médoc properties including Château Greysac and La Cardonne. He and his wife have also registered as wine merchants in order to launch the new wine called "Corazon" - the Spanish word for "Heart".
This red wine is produced in A.O.C. Médoc and partly aged in oak barrels. The grapes come from plots specially selected by Stéphane. The yield is deliberately small and the grapes are at optimum maturity (even slightly over-ripe). This makes for a concentrated, full bodied wine. The production is around 30,000 bottles. The first vintage for Corazon was 2006 but it is not the vintage which figures on the label but the mention :"Rich in polyphenols".
"Polyphenols contained in wine help the body fight against cardio-vascular diseases and old age," says Akima Courrèges.

In the plant world, polyphenols form a vegetal defense mechanism and wine, which has a high tanin content, contains large amounts of polyphenols, especially resveratrol.
"We are selling our first bottles and American as well as Japanese buyers are sensitive to the health apsect of our marketing campaign," explain the Courrèges couple, who will be exhibiting both in London and at Vinexpo this year.
"However, we are not doctors and wine is not medicine! We know that associating wine and health is risky because, drunk in large quantities, wine can be a poison!"

Indeed, the "wine and health" argument could well backfire and most merchants avoid the association.

The Courrèges couple have a refreshing attitude towards the concept : "Corazon combines the pleasure of moderate wine tasting with the practical side of looking after one's health. Moderate wine drinking can be part of an individual's healthy régime, just as a balanced diet can."

Corazon is selling for 9.80 euros a bottle.

See : www.courreges-wines.com

In Brief :

THE PINK PANTHER ON A BOTTLE OF BORDEAUX 'CREMANT'(sparkling rosé wine) :

After negociations with Metro Goldwin Meyer, Jean-Christophe Icard, who is a wine producer in the Bordeaux region, acquired the right to sell his wine with a special Pink Panther label. The first bottles of this sparkling Bordeaux rosé will be on the U.S. market by the end of the month. www.chateau-orangerie.com

Author:
César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com
S.O. 12/02/09

Translated by Maxine Colas.

SUDOUEST WINE NEWS

2009-02-11T07:46:00.002Z

http://bordeauxwinenews.blogsudouest.com

FREE WINE TASTINGS UNDER THREAT

2009-02-10T21:56:00.003Z

Roselyn Bachelot, France's Health minister presented an extensive health bill to the French National Assembly today. The bill, which is mainly about proposed reforms in hospitals and the public health service, also contains two sections relative to wine and other alcoholic drinks.

Firstly, the use of the Internet as a legalised marketing medium in France is confirmed. This comes as a relief to wine business professionals using the Web who, since the 2008 court decision, have been living with a Damocles sword over their heads : Internet did not figure among the legal mediums specified in the Evin Law of 1991 (simply because it did not exist at the time!). Websites devoted to wine and other alcohols were therefore declared illegal last year. This new law could put an end to this anachronism. Indeed, at the end of last year, Roselyn Bachelot had declared that she was not opposed to the idea, under certain conditions (especially where young people were concerned).
Last week the National Assembly's social affairs committee prepared this amendment. And now for the bad news...Publicity via the Internet is authorized...but only for websites belonging to wine business professionals. This does not allow much scope for development in the promotion department...

The second sensitive subject dealt with in the bill is that of wine tastings : Article number 24, which concerns the prevention of alcoholism in young people, puts forward the principle of banning sales of wine "passes" or "open bars" at wine fairs and free tastings. The off-shoot effect of this ban would be to render free tastings in cellars, wine shops and at wine fairs illegal! The same goes for a tasting at a wine producer's property before choosing which bottle to buy or enjoying a glass or two at an estate during "open day" weekends in the various wine regions...

It is difficult to imagine such a stab in the back for products for which the art of tasting before purchase is often a basic principle.

This also means the end of menus with wine included or discount prices for a certain number of bottles bought.

The planned amendments to the bill, especially those proposed by the various wine regions' elected representatives, could well change all that.

César Compadre S.O. 10/02/09

In brief :
A NEW CELLAR FOR CHEVAL BLANC :

The Libourne Wine Merchants Syndicate, chaired by Gérard Milhade, celebrated its centenery today at Château Cheval Blanc, first classified growth of Saint-Emilion.
Pierre Lurton, who is the manager of this estate owned by French and Belgian industrialists Bernard Arnault and Albert Frère, took the opportunity to announce the planned construction of the château's new cellar. The architect, Christian de Portzamparc, is known world-wide and responsible for the design of the French Embassy building in Berlin and the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy Tour in New York amongst others.
Building work should begin in a few months.

Author:
César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com
S.O. 10/02/09

Translated by Maxine Colas.

THE BNP PARIBAS BANK SAYS TO THE WINE WORLD

2009-02-07T16:51:00.004Z

"TRY US AND YOU'LL SEE" :

During this period of economic crisis, credit restrictions and other difficulties encountered by the wine world, the BNP Paribas bank puts its cards on the table :

Things are moving in the Gironde region bank sector. The wine industry, which is one of the major money spinners in the region, is attracting attention at the moment.
In fact, the BNP Paribas bank, one of the largest French banks, has just created a special department specially dedicated to viticulture. This is a precedent for the establishment which, despite the world financial crisis, should show a net profit of 3 billion euros for 2008.

The man at the helm of this new wine department is Bordeaux-born Philippe Richébé (left of the photo), who has been working for the bank for 10 years and until recently, at its branch in Toulouse.
"Our bank already has a thousand clients from the wine industry sector, many from the grands crus (fine wines) region and particularly in Saint-Emilion. In this context of economic crisis, we are putting our cards on the table and making public our ambitious plans for development in this particular economic activity. We are interested not only in working with wine property owners but also merchants and other companies involved in the industry, which employs a total of 60,000 people, directly or indirectly, in the Gironde area," says Mr.Richébé, clearly positioning his bank as an serious challenger to other establishments already present in this sector.

Three sub-branches in Gironde :
The new departments team is made up of seven people managing three sub-branches : one in Libourne, a town where BNP Paribas has a traditional foothold in the 'right bank' wine world, and two smaller branches in Pauillac (Médoc) and Langon.
The bank, which employs a staff of nearly 800 people in the region, plans to re-structure under the direction of Mr.Didier Gil (right of photo).

"Our advisors are highly qualified . The wine industry is complex and requires specific skills, whether it concerns buying wine properties, machinery or investing in oak barrels," explains Philippe Richébé, who is well acquainted with the local wine world.

Despite the fact that banks have become much less inclined to lend money to businesses these days, Philppe Richébé clearly announces his bank's intentions :
"We may be swimming against the general current, but we have been planning our move for some time. Although the Bordeaux wine business is experiencing difficulties - and there will be more to come - we have money to lend! I say this to wine professionals : 'Try us and you'll see!' We aim to invest on a long term basis in this important regional economic sector." A statement which may give cause for anxiety amongst colleagues from rival banks.

The "Green Bank" under pressure :
Historically, the Crédit Agricole Bank is the leading financial partner in the region's wine business. Indeed the bank has publicly announced its support for local wine businesses during these troubled times. The Banque Populaire and the Crédit Mutuel are also established banks in the regional wine sector.
BNP Paribas' aim to establish extensive financial relationships within this sector will help to stimulate the competiton. This in turn may well benefit wine professionals at a time when most are complaining about banks, who, anxious to rebuild margins, are refusing to grant loans and turning off the credit taps.
Author:

César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com
S.O. 06/02/09

Translated by Maxine Colas.

POUND STERLING DISRUPTS BORDEAUX WINE MARKET

2009-02-03T18:42:00.003Z

Not only do producers have to make good wine if the merchants are to sell it sucessfully, but the business also needs favorable exchange rates.
At the moment, the deterioration Britain's economy and the weakening of its currency have chilled French wine and spirits (eau-de-vie) exports.
The British market is a major outlet for French wines and especially Bordeaux. Indeed, in 2007 the UK was the number one importer of Bordeaux wine in terms of value and third in terms of volume.
The pound sterling, which was worth 1.50 euros eighteen months ago, fell to 1.06 euros at the end of January. In practical terms, this means that a wine sold for 2 - 3 euros ex-cellars and which was priced at between 5 - 6 euros in London stores (tax and margin included) just a few months ago, is now worth almost 7 euros. Because of the weak pound - and the reduced purchasing power of British consumers - French wine shipments have certainly seen better days and are preparing for worse.
"The effects have already been felt, " explains a merchant, " the figures are down since September."

The unfavorable exchange rate has also had an impact on the specific grand cru wine (top ranked growth) market. The golden boys of the City (which represents a quarter of the country's wealth) have less money to spend on expensive bottles. Furthemore, important quantities of wines bought over the last few years are back on the market....in Bordeaux. For example, an Englishman who purchased a 100 euro bottle eighteen months ago would have paid £74 for it. Today, if he needs quick cashflow, he can sell the same bottle for 80 euros (approximately £76) and not lose any money on it.

"All this is very bad for business, as the Bordeaux market is destablized and our stocks depreciated," cautions a merchant, who dreams of Britain adopting the euro...
Large quantities of wine are crossing the Channel back to France at the moment. In addition, pension funds, which had previously invested for speculative reasons, are now desperately selling wines at reduced prices to increase liquid assets.

French consumers should watch out for bargain prices for 2006 and even 2005 vintage wines and older during the supermarket wine fairs this September.

Author:

César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com

S.O. 03/02/09
Translated by Maxine Colas.

LET'S POSTPONE THE FUTURES CAMPAIGN UNTIL SEPTEMBER

2009-01-31T23:37:00.003Z

SUGGESTS THE DIRECTOR OF COS D'ESTOURNEL:

The sale of the 2008 vintage, via the traditional 'future' tasting and marketing campaign will "fall flat on its face" if it is to be held this Spring, according to Jean-Guillaume Prats, general manager of Cos d'Estournel, classified growth of Saint-Estèphe. He advocates postponing the campaign until the Autumn, in the hope the market will have risen from the dead by then.

"The market has been stock still for months." "Just like in 1973, the sales team will be playing cards in the office to pass the time."
"I've never seen such a dead market in all my thirty years in the wine business".

These comments from brokers and merchants alike illustrate how drastically the market for Bordeaux wines has been affected by the economic crisis.
The market has literally ground to a halt, with clients all over the world closing their chequebooks and putting away credit cards, obviously waiting for better days.

Wine is not of course an essential commodity and the world markets have made that quite clear. Even if producers selling direct to customers have not seen their sales suffer too badly, the global figures tell a sad story indeed : In the past five months (August - December), wine transactions between producers and merchants have tumbled by 37%! January is no better. The wine is desperately stuck in the cellars of Gironde. Customers seem to have sufficient supplies and around the globe distribution channels, apparently well stocked, are emptying....slowly.
This is food for thought indeed when one thinks back to the healthier economic situation in Bordeaux during the 2006 - 2007 period. After years of difficulty, the wine was selling again. Sold it may have been, but not drunk....even if world wine consumption has been on the rise for the past few years. Cognac and Champagne are both experiencing the same phenomenon as Bordeaux wine and, after years of healthy sales progression, their 2008 figures will show a sharp decline.

How can the market be resuscitated? With such a varied range of wines and prices - from a few euros to several hundred per bottle, it is diffcult to see a clear path ahead. Professionals are therefore apprehensive about one of the key dates in the Bordeaux calendar, the future tastings of the 2008 classified growths and the launch of the future sales campaign, due to start in less than three months' time.
Every year, at the beginning of April, the Bordeaux vineyard welcomes buyers and journalists from all over the planet. They judge the quality of the vintage and advise consumers to buy (or not to buy) 'futures'.

An ingenious system :

This 'future' market is specific to Bordeaux and concerns some 200 to 300 labels - the élite : the classified growths of the Médoc, Sauternes , Graves, St.Emilion and the Médoc crus bourgeois aswell as the estates of Pomerol. A small market in terms of surface area and volume but which represents a sustantial percentage in value : 15 - 20% of the 3 billion euro global turnover of Bordeaux wines. These élite estates are also important media locomotives for the region.

Future sales allow customers to purchase vintage wines in the Spring immediately following the harvest, when the wine is still undergoing its aging process in Bordeaux cellars and will not be delivered until 18 - 24 months after the harvest.
For example, in the case of a 2007 vintage wine, a 'future' purchase in the Spring of 2008 will arrive bottled at its final destination (the customers home) during the second semester of 2009. Future sales are therefore based on anticpated buying influenced by the reputation of a rare (or supposedly rare) vintage.
The wine becomes the customers property upon payment (before delivery) and the customer benefits from attractive prices for bottles which should appreciate in value with time. Most future buyers are from outside France.

"It's an ingenious system" says Jean-Guillaume Prats, who is the general manager of Cos d'Estournel, a classified growth of 91 hectares in Saint-Estèphe. "However, if the futures campaign is held in the Spring, as is the custom, we will run into a blind wall. If a donkey isn't thirsty, you can't make it drink! The economic situation is too drastic," says this professional who spends a hundred days per year abroad promoting his wines.
"Let's leave President Obama time to settle in and the plans to revive the world economy take effect. Bordeaux should postpone the 2008 future sales campaign until September but keep the 2008 tastings in April. At worst, properties will sell their wines at the same price as they would have in the Spring. Our 200 important world buyers (importers, distributors,..) must be informed immediately and it's up to the first growths (Margaux, Latour, Lafite, Mouton and Haut-Brion) to propose this change of schedule."

Jean-Guillaume Prats is the first professional to offer a defined plan of action admist the general apathy which seems to have overtaken perplexed market operators who seem to have trouble admitting the gravity of the situation. The illustrious estates, some of whose wines have hit strato-spheric prices since 2005, are finding it hard to come back down to earth. Merchants are hoping for a drop in wholesale prices this year, at the risk of seeing the 2006 and 2007 de-valued.
And finally consumers, especially in France, are waiting to take part in a market which has eluded them for so long.

Author:

César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com

S.O. 30/01/09
Translated by Maxine Colas.

NEW APPELLATION 'CÔTES DE BORDEAUX'..... ON ITS WAY

2009-01-28T23:45:00.003Z

After four years of preparation, bottles bearing the new appellation "Côtes de Bordeaux" on their labels should be on the market in late Spring, about the same time as the bottling of the 2008 vintage.
"In early March, the I.N.A.O. (French National Institute for the Appellations of Origins) will ratify the reform and then the minister of Agriculture will sign the decree," explains Christophe Chateau, the aptly named head of the association which regroups the côtes or 'hillside' wines of Bordeaux.
The aim of this new label is to restructure and simplify. At the present date four appellations (with perhaps more to follow) are concerned by this reform : Premières Côtes de Blaye, Côtes de Castillon, Bordeaux-Côtes de Francs and Premières Côtes de Bordeaux. These will all now be grouped under the general "Côtes de Bordeaux" appellation and represent a total of 700,000 hecto-litres or 90 million bottles, which account for 14% of production in the most important wine producing 'department' of France.

Bottles costing 5 - 10 euros retail price :

The 1,500 producers of these four appellations will be allowed to add the name of their specific area either next to the "Côtes de Bordeaux" heading or below it but the real aim is to associate the word "Côtes" (hillside) which is positively perceived - the high ground vineyards benefit from better sun exposure and good drainage - with "Bordeaux" which of course is world famous. "We also want to keep the specific 'terroir' names, all from the right bank of the Garonne River," adds Mr.Chateau.
Even though 86% of sales of these four appellation wines go to the domestic market, namely the 5 - 10 euro price range, it is hoped that the reform will produce a more simplified and visible offer for the foreign markets.
In effect, who outside France knows where the Côtes de Castillon" are? The new Côtes de Bordeaux may well benefit from the 'mass effect' as do both the A.O.C. Médoc and Haut-Médoc.

Merchant branded wines :

Moreover, merchants and cooperatives will be able to produce "Côtes de Bordeaux" brand wines by blending wines from the four A.O.Cs, which beforehand could only be sold under brand labels as A.O.C. Bordeaux, the baseline regional appellation.
A massive media campaign will be launched to accompany the label change of these 90 million bottles. The hope is that the other "Côtes" A.O.Cs (Côtes de Bourg, Saintes Foy-Bordeaux and Graves de Vayres) will join the first four.

The last A.O.C. creation in the Bordeaux region was Pessac-Léognan (Graves) in 1987.
After this grouping of the 4 "Côtes" into one single A.O.C, there will be 54 appellations instead of 57 in the Bordeaux region.

Author:

César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com

S.O. 23/01/09
Translated by Maxine Colas.
Cell Phone: 0033 615 791 509

A NIGHT AT THE CHATEAU :

2009-01-28T20:00:00.002Z

More and more wine properties offer accommodation in the form of attractive guest bedrooms :

In the wine world, the 'must' is to spend the night in a château. Especially in the Bordeaux region which boasts several thousand properties, many of which are magnificent. However, not everyone is welcome. It is mostly V.I.Ps who are allowed the privilege of sipping a few glasses of good claret at the château proprietors table, retiring to their room on the spot instead of having to drive to a hotel and opening the shutters the next morning to enjoy an unparalleled view of the vineyards....

Who are the members of this elite? Some are supermarket buyers from Singapore, others select wine store owners from Paris or sommeliers from Tokyo, importers from Las Vegas, distributors from Geneva and journalists from Moscow. These are the sort of professionals the wine world likes to pamper, especially when practically all of them come to Bordeaux in early april for the future tastings or in mid-June for the wine fair Vinexpo.

Supplementing income :

More and more château owners are transforming outbuildings which used to house machinery or staff and even proprietors lodgings into attractive bedrooms. In fact, when renovating a château nowadays, practically every owner includes several "guest bedrooms". Bernard Magrez possesses several in each of his various properties, the château Cos d'Estournel (Saint-Estèphe), undergoing renovation at the moment, has extra bedrooms planned, André Lurton has redesigned château La Louvière (Pessac-Léognan) with guest accommodation in mind and the interior decorator, Jean Guyon has similar plans for the château Rolland de By (North Médoc).
Among the other estates equipped with guest bedrooms are Lagrange (Saint-Julien), Pontet-Canet (Pauillac) and Les Carmes Haut-Brion (Pessac-Léognan).

Appart from attracting professionals, the expansion of wine tourism has provoked another trend in the Bordeaux area : many more modest properties are now offering a bed and breakfast service. This enables wine growers to supplement their income and gives clients a chance to stay admidst the vines, to get a 'taste of terroir'. One can even rent out an entire château, such as the Château de France (Entre-Deux-Mers).
On another level, some estates have been transformed into luxury hotels : Cordeillan-Bages in Pauillac, the Sources de Caudalie in Martillac and Franc-Mayne in Saint Emilion are three fine examples.
There is a plan (although still rather vague) to create 100 guest bedrooms at Château Cantenac-Brown in Margaux, which is owned by the businessman Simon Halabi.
However, in an area already serviced by the Relais de Margaux and the Pian-Médoc Golf-Hotel, one wonders if the offer may surpass the demand in the Médoc wine region.

Author:

César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com

S.O. 23/01/09
Translated by Maxine Colas.

VINEXPO PREPARES FOR JUNE :

2009-01-13T20:55:00.001Z

Today in Paris the Vinexpo team presented the plan of the 15th edition of the professional wine fair to be held in Bordeaux from June 21st - 25th this year.
The Bordeaux exhibition centre (all 40,000 metres square of it) awaits the wine world. While the planetary economic crisis sweeps through all commercial sectors, one wonders what the consequences will be for the wine industry whose figures reached a world total of 150 billion dollars (turnover in retail price sales) in 2007.
On the production side, Australia has been experiencing difficulties for the past two years and, in France, black clouds are appearing on the horizon, especially in the Bordeaux vineyard.
These are just two examples amongst many.

As for the consumer markets, the two driving market forces - the U.S. and Great Britain - are both slipping into a recession. The once priviledged employees of the City and Wall Street as well as pension fund investors now have other things to think about than what wine they are going to buy, and pockets are considerably less deep than before....
In Spain, the domestic market has taken a nose-dive....

Despite these depressing circumstances, Vinexpo organisers say that they are satisfied with the number of exhibitor reservations and that the wine fair is fully booked. There is even a waiting list.
The challenge now will be to entice buyers from all over the world to Vinexpo and this in a context where stocks are high and difficult to shift and new orders are not on the immediate agenda.

In order to clarify the situation for professionals, the Vinexpo organisers have asked a British market survey company, I.W.S.R., to produce a study on market prospects up to the year 2012 (28 producing countries and 114 markets studied).
The conclusion? The economic crisis will have " generally limited consequences on the wine industry". One is tempted to be sceptical in a time when day by day we discover how deep the economic 'malaise' goes. Especially as this study is, by definition, based solely on recent figures.

I.W.S.R. claims that the world wine market will continue to grow. The U.S. will become the consumer market leader (as their previous study also showed), and both the Russian and Chinese markets will continue to progress.
From now until 2012, the wine sector's global turnover should increase by 9% to reach 166 billion dollars. However in France, the world leader in wine production, wine comsumption will continue to drop.

Author:

César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com

S.O. 13/01/09
Translated by Maxine Colas.

THE WINE MARKET STAGNATES :

2009-01-09T14:56:00.002Z

Transactions have slowed to a halt since October.

"The Bordeaux wine market is eerily calm at the moment but market operators can't play the waiting game too long," explains a broker specialised in contractual relations between producers and merchants. This profession is often described as the beating heart of the Bordeaux wine business.
The market's pulse is definately on the slow side this season : transactions are rare between producers and merchants, most of whom have a year's stock ahead of them and are not in any hurry to re-order, despite a historically low yield in 2008. On the production side, growers refuse to lower their prices and quotations are not budging. To add to the difficulties, banks are hesitant about granting loans to finance stocks....As a result business is grinding to a halt, a situation which could well continue throughout the semester.

The wines will have to be sold at some stage to finance the coming season. There is hope for an increase in sales in the Spring....For the moment however, the market is so paralysed that Saint Gobain, the major regional glass bottle manufacturer, has already stopped production from one of it's ovens in the company's factory based in Charente....

The grand cru wines are also in a difficult position. The 2007 vintage prices were expensive and merchants still have a considerable number of unsold bottles in stock. Moreover, the practically non-existant futures campaign in the Spring did little to move stocks.

Pension funds, which had invested in the wine business for speculation purposes, have suffered the effects of the financial crisis and are consequently putting wines on the market at drastically cut prices...and in doing so are brutally re-adjusting the market.

Author:

César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com

S.O. 09/01/09
Translated by Maxine Colas.

RISE IN TAXATION HITS WINE & SPIRITS

2009-01-07T00:03:00.002Z

From January 1st, taxation on wines and spirits increases in France as the French government seeks ways to fill the void of the social security deficit.
In the past, increase in tax on alcoholic beverages was voted in conjunction with finance laws. Now it will be indexed on annual inflation figures and so be revised every January based on the previous year's inflation percentage.

It is important to know that, each time the consumer buys a bottle of wine or spirits in France, he or she is paying a specific tax (in addition to VAT). This "circulation" tax or "accises" in French is then paid by producers to the State. This is one of the most "controlled" areas of the wine and spirit industry as considerable sums of money are involved (several millions of euros...).

With 1,5% inflation in 2007, the tax on wines of less than 15° increases in January from 2,55 to 2,58 euro cents per 75 cl bottle :
a minimal rise. However, liqueur wines such as Pineau des Charentes or Floc de Gasgogne, and spirits will have, in addition to the indexed tax, another 'social security' tax specific to this range of alcoholic drinks.
On buying a bottle of Cognac for example, you will now be paying 5,24 euros (in addition to VAT) as opposed to 4,97 euros previous to January 1st : 27 euros cents more.

Pineau producer Christian Baudry, who is president of the French Federation of Liqueur Wines, feels that these types of wines are being unfairly prejudiced by this additional taxation.
"We are being milked like dairy cows!"he exclaims. A bottle of Pineau will now be taxed 1,63 euros as opposed to 1,60 previously. If one adds VAT, this totals 3 euros on top of a bottle which sells for an average of 7 euros....

Author:

César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com

S.O. 06/01/09
Translated by Maxine Colas.

THE BORDEAUX MARKETING BOARD

2008-12-16T15:03:00.003Z

(C.I.V.B.) WILL BE OUT OF POCKET IN 2009 AND HAVE TO DRAW ON ITS RESERVES.

The Bordeaux Marketing Board is yet another victim amongst many in the region in the never ending downward spiral caused by the economic crisis.
Yesterday, during its annual general meeting, the 'C.I.V.B', which is a financial and promotional entity grouping together both wine producers and merchants, announced a discrepancy between the budgeted number of hectolitres sold in 2008 (5,5 million hl) and the real figure (5,1 million hl). As the wine professionals' obligatory subscriptions to the board are calculated based on the exact figure of total volume sales, the Board will see its ressources reduced by 2 million euros in 2009!

Although it will be out of pocket, the Bordeaux Marketing Board does have deep pockets : its ressources for 2009 will total some 29,5 million euros. It remains the most powerful interprofessional wine board in France.

A slump in sales transactions between producers and merchants since September and a decrease in both foreign and domestic consumer demand have led to a build up of stocks. The professionals priority now is to shift stocks before placing new orders.
In France, the traditional Autumn wine fairs did not fare well and many unsold bottles will be back on the shelves, hoping to tempt consumers at this time of Christmas cheer.

Alain Vironneau, who is not only a wine producer in the North of the Gironde region but also President of the C.I.V.B, is adamant that promotional campaigns for Bordeaux wine should be maintained :
"We will maintain our spending on promotion in 2008 because this is not the time to lower our guard." Indeed, more than 21 million euros will be invested in campaigns to promote Bordeaux wines in the coming year.
Part of the boards financial reserves will be used to balance the 2008 budget. However, its finances will not be in jeopardy as it will still have nearly 14 million euros put aside for further rainy days.

Many wine professionals however, are finding it harder and harder to pay their subscriptions and the question of a possible reduction in subscriptions has already been raised by the neighbouring Loire Valley Marketing Board.

For the moment, this is not on the immediate agenda, even though some 'wine villages' in the Bordeaux area are experiencing very real financial difficulties.

Author:

César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com

S.O. 16/12/08
Translated by Maxine Colas.

THE PLASTIC ATTACK ON GLASS STRENGTHENS :

2008-12-07T21:42:00.002Z

Packaging : The first plastic wine bottles are on the market. The plastic advantage could well tip the balance in terms of wine packaging, explains Bernard Laurence, whose company Semaq is exhibiting at the Vinitech professional trade fair.

In ancient times, the first receptacles for carrying wine were amphoras, then came oak barrels. Today, admidst glass bottles and the ever popular "Bag-in-Box" containers (B.I.Bs), the future may well lie in plastic bottles. The wine packaging sector which, up until now has remained rather conservative (especially in France), is on the verge of a revolution.
At Vinitech, the three-day international wine-technics salon held in Bordeaux this week, rival exhibitors specialised in this new innovation, compare notes and show off inventive packaging which we may see on wine consumers' tables in the near future.
On the Semaq stand, the new plastic wine bottles made of P.E.T (polyethylene terephtalate) are in full view : they contain whisky, calvados, rum, Madera or even Bordeaux wine...
"This is a serious trend for companies such as ours and the wine and spirits sector will follow the general movement towards plastic containers", explains Bernard Laurence, whose family business, Semaq, has been specialised in manufacturing and distributing packaging for industry since 1974. "Look at the evolution in packaging of other liquid food products over the last twenty years : mineral water, cooking oil, fruit juice and milk have all abandoned glass for plastic," he continues, and goes on to specify that one third of Semaq's activity is centred on packaging for the wine and spirits sector including the manufacture of B.I.Bs and plastic 225 litre barrels for transporting wine in bulk.

The market for wine and spirits in plastic bottles is still in embryo but could expand rapidly for two reasons :
the first stemming from concern about consumers safety in certain situations. Glass bottles have a tendency to break. Indeed, night club proprietors are beginning to buy whisky in plastic bottles to overcome this potential health hazard and organisers of outdoor festivals would like to buy wine similarly packaged.
Secondly, plastic (P.E.T.) bottles are not only 100% recyclable but also much lighter in weight than their glass counterparts. This weight reduction means that transporters will use less fuel (an economic and environmental priority today) carrying plastic bottles, which weigh 50 grammes each, than glass ones (450 g each).
"Some clients, such as airline companies and event organisers are looking for an alternative to glass," says Bernard Laurence.
Whatever the priority, these bottles will all be equipped with screw-caps because the traditional action of popping a cork would pose a spillage problem, the container being too light.
The export market is also interested in the plastic alternative, especially those countries less weighed down by tradition than France. Canada, for example, is where the Gironde wine merchant Yvon Mau has chosen to launch its first range of wines in plastic bottles.Other regional operators in the wine business are set to do the same.

On the practical side for consumers, a standard P.E.T. bottle is suitable for a wine which can be kept for 6 - 8 months (for example a rosé). However, there is a special multi-layered P.E.T. bottle for keeping wines from 18 - 24 months.
"Not forgetting the fact that 900 bottles made of P.E.T are equivalent in weight to 600 glass bottles is of great interest in terms of transport costs to wine growers and merchants alike." adds Bernard Laurence.

Author:

César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com

S.O. 04/12/08
Translated by Maxine Colas.
francewinechateaux@gmail.com

IS WINE A DANGEROUS PRODUCT ?

2008-12-02T22:05:00.004Z

Government propaganda seems to be paying off : French government policies likening wine to drugs and giving it almost devilish connotations have had an effect on how citizens now perceive the product, as the results of a recent survey show. In the survey, carried out by the Research Centre for Study & Observation of Living Conditions (in short, the Crédoc : www.crédoc.fr), 51% of the French citizens questioned perceived wine as a food product presenting health risks as opposed to 26% in 2003. In the list of top 'risk' foodstuffs, wine is in second place, behind charcuterie. Butter and cheese come third.

The survey results read as follows : "Wine used to be considered as a noble, regional and cultural product, also as a symbol of French gastronomy's identity. Nowadays it is considered potentially dangerous for our health."

Government efforts to warn consumers of potential risks coupled with mounting general public concern for health issues have resulted in "...a recent and spectacular public awareness. Wine is no longer protected by its traditional ' cultural exception' image and is now assimulated with all the other alcoholic beverages", states the Crédoc analysis.

César Compadre S.O. 02/12/08 Translated by Maxine Colas.

VINITECH OPENS TODAY.

The Wine Technology Show, Vinitech, opens its doors for three days at the Exhibition Centre in Bordeaux-Lac today.
A thousand exhibitors ranging from manufacturers of machinery and corks to barrels and bottles, will welcome over 40,000 wine professionals including wine growers, merchants and oenologists.
On Wednesday ( 3 pm, Hall 3, Seminar Room 303), the regional newspaper, Sud Ouest, will be holding a conference on the theme "Is French wine packaging too conservative? : are labels and bottles really evolving or is it simply that French consumers themselves remain conservative?" Among the guest speakers and experts present will be : Alain Courbière, sales manager of the printing company Autajon ; Vincent Bonhur, marketing director of the merchant Cordier ; Jean-Christophe Icard, proprietor of Château de l'Orangerie (Saint-Félix-de-Fourcaude) and Franck Celhay, author of a thesis on wine labels.

VINTAGE 2008 : LOWEST EUROPEAN YIELD SINCE 1991 :

The International Wine & Vine Organisation (www.oiv.int) has published a comparative study of the 2008 vintage in terms of yield.
For the European Union (27 countries), with a total yield of 160 million hectolitres, this is the lowest yield since 1991. Italy obtained 47 million hl, France 43 million hl and Spain a mere 34 million hl.
Outside the EU, the harvest was more generous, especially in Australia (12 million hl) and the US yield was stable at 20,6 million hl. However, Argentina (14,7m hl) and Chilie (8m hl) registered a slight decrease in volumes compared to 2007.

The total world production for 2008 is 267 million hl, which is practically identical to that of 2007.

Author:

César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com

S.O. 02/12/08
Translated by Maxine Colas.
francewinechateaux@gmail.com

SCREW CAPS GAIN GROUND AROUND THE BOTTLE-NECKS

2008-11-18T16:42:00.005Z

During the coming Vinitech salon, the wine world will reveal its most recent innovations. As for tendencies on the corking front, screw caps are becoming more and more popular, as Joël Elissalde from Vignobles Despagne explains.

The art of unscrewing the cap on a good bottle of wine to enjoy either among friends at home or at a restaurant, has become a habitual gesture for millions of wine lovers across the planet : 3 billion screw capped bottles were opened this year. This 'corking' method, traditionally used by spirits and other alcohols, is gaining ground in the wine sector.

"If all our customers asked for screw-capped bottles, I'd be delighted! Screw caps are the solution for the future because they are practical and reliable. However, making changes happen in the wine world is complicated and many consumers have pre-conceived ideas on the subject," explains Joël Elissalde, who originates from the Basque country and is director of the company Vignobles Despagne.This family-owned company is proprietor of châteaux Tour de Mirambeau, Mont Pérat and Girolate which represent a total of 320 hectares of vineyard. For Vignobles Despagne, based in the Entre-Deux-Mers area of the Bordeaux vineyard, screw caps are already old news, which is not the case in the rest of France. Twenty years ago, the Despagne family began to specialise in the 'aviation-size quarter bottle', a screw-capped 18,7 cl bottle of wine especially designed for in-flight drinking.

"This experience gave us sufficient time to stand back and examine this technology and it's effect on the wines over time. Today we give our clients the choice between a screw-cap or a traditional cork for most of our range of white, rosé or red wines. It's up to our clients which packaging they order," say Vignobles Despagne, who sells two million bottles per year, 90% of which are for the export market.

The screw-cap advantage : Joël Elissalde personnally and openly prefers screw-caps because " ..they protect the wine aromas more effectively. And, of course, there is no risk of a corky smell of taste! Screw-caps are neutral, having no smell or taste which may interfer with the wine. Also, the twelve screw-capped bottles in one case will all have exactly the same taste. Lastly, contrary to popular belief, wines in screw-capped bottles age very well," indicates this expert, who adds, "Our screw-cap sales are on the increase : of the million 75 cl bottles we sell, 20% of them are screw-capped."

The growing success of screw-caps and synthetic corks began with the new millenium, arising from problems of smells and taste from natural corks at the time. Cork is a living material made from the bark of cork-oaks in Mediteranean areas (Portugal, Spain and North Africa) and can sometimes give the unpleasant corky smell or taste to wine when faults occur its manufacture.
As a result, cork manufacturing companies, such as the world leader, Amorim (whose headquarters are in the Bordeaux area), are increasing quality and security levels in their factories to avoid further problems.
Despite competition from the new corking technique, natural corks are still used on the majority of the 17 billion bottles of wine sold on the world market per year. Of this total, 3 billion bottles are screw-capped : ten times more than in 2003!
The attle continues between new and traditional techniques and one of the arguments against screw-caps is the risk that wine, in the absence of gas exchange through the cork, could suffer from "reduced taste" due to "asphyxiation".

The anglo-saxon drive : In France, well-known operators such as Vignobles André Lurton in Bordeaux, Boisset and Michel Laroche in Burgundy or Tariquet in the Gers region, have all made the transition from natural cork to screw-cap. The result will be more bottles being opened by a simple twist of the wrist, easily re-'corked' to be finished the next day or later. Even the quality Bordeaux châteaux are joining the screw-cap movement, like Château Agassac (Haut-Médoc) and Malartic Lagravière (Pessac-Léognan), although only for their bottles of rosé for the moment. Many châteaux in the Médoc and Saint-Emilion are experimenting with the new method.

One thing is certain : thanks to the progress in screw-cap techniques made by the various manufacturers - especially the work on the joins located on the inside of the capsule and the exterior design - screw-cap bottles should no longer be considered of lesser quality than their corked cousins. However, wine is often perceived as a cultural product and its image is sometimes as important as the techniques used to make and package it.
As French consumers often remark : "I would miss hearing the cork pop - it's part of the pleasure of opening a good bottle!"
"This is much less the case for foreign consumers," argues Karine Herrewyn, who is marketing director for Alcan Packaging Capsules, the world leader in screw-cap manufacturing (brand-name "Stelvin"). "Practically the whole of the wine production of New Zealand and two thirds of that of Australia is sold in screw-capped bottles. The anglo-saxons are less influenced by tradition," continued Karine and, when asked if the screw-cap might be a passing trend, she replied : "This is not a fashion. Consumers are more interested in the practical aspect. This is certainly the case in the anglo-saxon countries. In France, the screw-cap market is progressing but we need to convince the distributors. In any case, none of the producers who have already opted for screw-caps want to go back to cork!"

IN BRIEF :

VINITECH SALON IN BORDEAUX FROM 2nd TO 4th DECEMBER :

The most important date in the world of viticulture's calendar is the technical exhibition held at the Bordeaux Lac Exhibition Centre during the first week of December. One thousand exhibitors expect 40,000 professional visitors from all over the world (producers, merchants, oenologists, technicians, cellar masters and cultivation managers..).
In an area covering 80,000 metres square, visitors will find a multitude of equipment for vine management, wine-making and packaging : from secateurs and tractors to bottling machines and various types of cork, including the latest screw-cap designs.

César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com

S.O. 18/11/08
Translated by Maxine Colas.
francewinechateaux@gmail.com

LABELS THAT COME AND GO

2008-11-11T22:09:00.002Z

Bordeaux : Wine properties are born, reborn and often grow in renown, but they can also disappear : for example, the Château La Tour-Haut Brion, great classified growth of the Graves region, which has ceased to exist from this year onwards.

In this final quarter of the year 2008, the illustrious family of Bordeaux classified growths is missing one member. There will be no bottles of La Tour Haut-Brion 2008 released next year and traditional buyers of the château's production will have to content themselves with the last vintage of this great estate, 2005 or previous vintages from existing stocks.
The label of Château La Tour Haut-Brion (5 hectares of red in appellation contrôlée Pessac-Léognan) has ceased to exist.

No tsunami or earthquake is responsible for this, merely a strategic choice on the part of the owners.
This historical estate is owned by the company Domaine Clarence Dillon S.A. which is also proprietor of the neighbouring Pessac properties of Châteaux Haut-Brion (red and white wines), La Mission Haut-Brion (red only) and Laville Haut-Brion (white only). These estates represent a total of 80 hectares of planted vines, 77 of which are in production (71 ha of red and 5,5 ha of white).
This impressive collection of celebrated properties forms the largest concentration of classified growths (of both the 1855 classification and the more recent 1959 Graves classification) in the Bordeaux area.

The story of the disappearance of the La Tour Haut-Brion label shows that although châteaux can be born or reborn thanks to successive purchasing or take-overs, they can also die.
Even the most prestigious...This also means that names, even when they become well-known brand-names are not necessarily attached to an eternal landed heritage.

A cellar story : Jean-Philippe Delmas, estate director for Domaine Clarence Dillon S.A., relates the story behind this rather unusual decision :
"At the beginning of the last century, in an era when the wine business was in difficulty, the then owners of Château La Tour Haut-Brion bought the neighbouring property, La Mission Haut-Brion. The production of both properties was vinified at La Mission and, in time, La Tour Haut-Brion became the second wine of La Mission."
In 1983 the family of Clarence Dillon (New York bankers), owner of nearby Château Haut-Brion since 1935, bought both La Mission and La Tour Haut-Brion (forming a total of 30 hectares of vines) from the Woltner family.

" The vintage 1991 saw the birth of a second wine, specific to La Mission Haut-Brion, called La Chapelle de La Mission Haut-Brion. We wanted to bring La Tour Haut-Brion back to life," continues Jean-Philippe Delmas. It is true that for a classified growth to be reduced to second wine status is upsetting to say the least. However, the new owners had another problem. In order to revive La Tour Haut-Brion, they needed to recover and rehabilitate the building which was previously the 'château' of La Tour Haut-Brion, since then transformed into a retirement home for this urbanised western suburb of Bordeaux. After many years of negociation, this operation proved impossible.
The result : No specific cellar available for La Tour Haut-Brion.
This, coupled with the difficulty of finding a suitable space to build one on site, plus the fact that this estate remained very much overshadowed by its two big brothers, resulted in 2005 being the last vintage in the unsettled history of La Tour Haut-Brion. However, the owners have decided to keep the name. Who knows what opportunities the future might bring? Since 2006 the plots of ex-La Tour Haut-Brion (awaiting better days perhaps) have been supplying La Chapelle de La Mission Haut-Brion.

Clarifying the offer : the strategy of Domaine Clarence Dillon S.A., with its policy of clarifying the offer, may well lead to a second disappearance act, in the shape of Château Laville Haut-Brion, another classified growth of Graves (planted with only 2,5 ha of vines) which produces exclusively white wine. This small vineyard could be used to produce La Mission Haut-Brion white wine, a label which actually used to exist. The idea is being discussed at the moment.

Château Haut-Brion's second wine's new name however, decided earlier in the year, has already come into being. From the 2007 vintage onwards Le Bahans du Château Haut-Brion is re-christened "Le Clarence de Haut-Brion", in honor of Clarence Dillon, purchaser of Haut-Brion in 1935. This second wine will benefit from the same shape bottle as its big brother.

In the end, the Dillon heirs may well find themselves managing just two 'Formula 1' properties : Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion in both red and white, together with their second wines. The moral of the story? Perhaps that this is a good example of a sensible commercial policy of brand name management.

César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com

S.O. 11/11/08
Translated by Maxine Colas.
maxine.colas@gmail.com

WE PLAN TO CONTINUE OUR EXPANSION

2008-11-04T23:02:00.002Z

In today's context of financial crisis and minimal harvest, Pierre Castel, one of the major French wine merchants (and the oldest, at 82 years of age) explains his company's strategy of expansion.

Sud Ouest : Your company acquired the wine merchant company "OEnoalliance", based in Beychac, Gironde. Do you have other investment plans in the Bordeaux area?

Pierre Castel : OEnoalliance was in financial difficulty but benefitted from a strong image in the distributor brand market which Castel needed to develop. As for other projects in Bordeaux, our priority is volume and brands. If we found suitable opportunities....

S.O : What is your opinion of the Alsace group, Grand Chais de France, which is also expanding rapidly?

P.C : Everyone has competitors but we are not racing against eachother! Each company is working to keep it's head above water especially at the moment when the wine business means large turnovers but small profits ; it's the opposite for my other activities. However, due to certain problems with my partner, I sold my shares in the water business for 860 million euros.

S.O :That sum would enable you to invest in a classified growth château, something still missing among your company's assets.

P.C : Even though the company has considerable cashflow, we don't intend to waste money. A celebrated property? Perhaps, if a good proposition comes up, but nothing overpriced ; wine remains an agricultural product, subject to climate and other risks. I have however invested in the beer industry in Guinea and Nigeria. I am very interested in opportunities in Africa and never hesitate to invest there. As for buying a wine property, it is imperative to study the figures...

S.O : You are one of the most important buyers of wine in France. What do you think of the 2008 vintage which is the smallest yield since 1991?

P.C : There will be no shortage of wine because there is plenty of stock. We have contracts with wine growers for 2000 hectares in the Bordeaux vineyard for our branded wines. We will buy only what we need and no more. Moreover, people are drinking less wine : our wine sales will be down by 3% by the end of the year. The lower price range is suffering and the future lies with the quality wines. In Bordeaux, many of the wines do not reply to the demands of emerging markets, who are looking for easy to drink, fruity wines. In the Val de Loire area, where we are investing 30 millions euros in a bottling plant which will process 1.4 million hectolitres, you cannot find any more muscadet to buy and the vineyard is in a state of neglect.

S.O : What about development of your export market?

P.C : Exports represent a third of our sales and we plan to expand in Russia, where we already employ 150 people in a bottling and distribution centre near Moscow. China is also another objective. The UK, German and US markets are difficult at the moment.

S.O : The famous "Bag-in-Box" is still selling well?

P.C : Yes, and we are investing in packaging plants for this product, mainly for the 3 litre containers. I would never have imagined putting AOC wines or even branded wines in this type of packaging, but in fact the product sells well.

S.O : What advice would you give to young people hoping to make a career in the wine industry?

P.C : They must have some money to invest. If they need to finance their whole project with a loan, they are taking a big risk.Bordeaux remains the best French vineyard in which to invest.

César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com

S.O. 4/11/08
Translated by Maxine Colas.

MODERATION MUST BE OUR GOAL.

2008-11-02T19:57:00.008Z

Thursday saw a succession of demonstrations against the censorship that the wine world in France believes it has fallen victim to in recent months. Alain Juppé, Mayor of Bordeaux, was photographed as he symbolically covered up a road sign indicating the city's name.

This photo was shown all over the world : Bordeaux, the world capitol of wine having it's name covered up by a large sticker with the word "Censored". The scene took place yesterday in the Place de la Bourse, opposite the Garonne River. It was an example among many during this day of demonstrations against what the wine industry in France considers to be unfair censorship.
Indeed, wine professionals in France, the world leader in production, consumption and exportation of wine are "furious, to say the least,"says Alain Vironneau, who is the president of the Bordeaux Wine marketing board. He was not alone. Over 150 professionals and political figures were present at this symbolic masking of the name of the world's most famous vineyard.

A succesion of obstacles has hit the French wine industry recently. The first is in the legal grey area surrounding the use of the Internet as a marketing medium for wine and other alcoholic drinks. Then comes the absence of a clear definition of publicity as opposed to informative articles about wine in the press. In addition to these debates, the government has just voted a rise in taxation on wine and spirits in order to cover the Social Security deficit. Finally, there is talk of banning free wine tastings during wine fairs.

"All this handicaps the professional wine sector, when what we need to concentrate on most is encouraging consumers to practice moderation. That should be the universal goal," explains Mr.Vironneau.

All over France, the operation, named "Censorship - a sign of things to come", was described as a great success by the organisers. It's aim to draw public attention to the debate was achieved and Alain Juppé, along with two pillars of the Bordeaux wine community, André Lurton and Jean-Michel Cazes, rallied the troops : "Prohibition has never worked," said a stern Alain Juppé, "...this is not just a question of selling bottles. In France, the fruit of the vine represents one thousand years of history and a national, cultural heritage which encompasses a craftsman's art and a landscape."
Jean-Michel Cazes, owner of Château Lynch-Bages in Pauillac, urged observers to "..realise that some people in this country want to abolish our profession. Be prepared to fight to save it!"
The idea certainly seems to be gaining ground.

To be continued....on sudouest.com : visit our website for photos and videos of the various demonstrations by wine professionals in the region, as well as interviews of Jean-Michel Cazes and André Lurton and send in your views to our forum.

César Compadre

doc@sudouest.com

S.O. 31/10/08
Translated by Maxine Colas.