When Bordeaux sets its sights on…Bordeaux: “There are fewer and fewer ties between the countryside and the city”

rom a sales perspective, the last quarter of the year has always been a very busy one for Bordeaux winegrowers who host a series of cellar door and social events at home. After the first independent winegrower’s festival at the start of October, the number of collective initiatives is increasing. From AOC Médoc and Haut-Médoc to the Conseil des Vins de Saint-Emilion, events remain a strong trend for wine.

Examples include Cabanes en Fête in Andernos for Entre-Deux-Mers wines and the Food Festival at Château Ducru Beaucaillou at the end of October. “Everyone in Bordeaux had an aunt, an uncle or a cousin who worked in the vineyards” or “students who came harvesting at the wineries”, recalls Bruno Borie, countering the view that there are “fewer and fewer ties between the countryside and the city, between the vineyards and the people of Bordeaux”. In the face of societal shifts, “it is important to strengthen those ties and to open up our property to the people of Bordeaux, and the region in general, and show them that at the end of the day, we haven’t lost our sense of hospitality, or our love of the good life. After all, we are Gascons!”

This consumer engagement strategy is one that the new chairman of the Bordeaux wine marketing board CIVB, Bernard Farges, aims to champion. On July 9, he announced that “we are going to transition marketing activities and investments to converting more sales in France and abroad by showcasing our appellations, winegrowers and negociants as bridgeheads for our collaborative efforts. The role of the producers’ organisations will be strengthen as part of the marketing thought process. Wine tourism will be supported to leverage the image it generates for our region, our companies and our wines”.