“Who produces 1 million hectolitres of Merlot worldwide? Who produces 800,000 hl of Chardonnay? Pays d’Oc are the only ones!”

ays d’Oc is determined that the 800 million bottles it markets annually should not be passed off as any old varietal wine. “Who produces 1 million hectolitres of Merlot worldwide? Who produces 800,000 hl of Chardonnay? Pays d’Oc are the only ones and we would be stupid not to take advantage of this firepower to turn it into a strong brand of origin”, said Jacques Gravegeal on 10 March in Agde at the AGM of the Pays d’Oc producers’ organisation he chairs.

Convinced that PGI Pays d’Oc can leverage its volumes to cater to a variety of consumer needs, from wines for pleasure to high-end food-friendly offerings, producers’ representatives have announced that an assessment of vineyard blocks will be launched this year in order to put an end to “averagisation” and position each wine in the right market segment. “In Champagne, even strong individual trademarks like LVMH or Mercier rely on the collective regional brand. It is the wine industry’s treasure trove and this is what we have to aim for”, stressed Gravegeal. “A collective strategy makes corporate strategies even more powerful and we want to ensure that soon, in France and internationally, not a single consumer buys a Pays d’Oc varietal wine without knowing about it”, added Jean-Marie Fabre, head of the French independent winegrowers’ association and a Languedoc winegrower.