The Breton wine industry becomes more structured and professional

he triskelion is a Celtic symbol with a strong identity in Brittany and it has been used as the basis for the new logo to mark the restructuring of the Association for the Recognition of Breton Wines (ARVB). “Our new logo aims to reflect the development of our association through the new identification”, claims Rémy Ferrand, the association's general secretary since October 2020. It also mirrors the re-drafted statutes of the association, which was founded in 2005 to help owners of heirloom vines.

The newly restructured ARVB has created a panel reserved for professional winegrowers in the Côtes-d'Armor, Finistère, Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan departments. The ARVB “only incorporates the departments that form the administrative region of Brittany”, explains Ferrand, adding that Loire-Atlantique “is an ‘ancient’ wine region, so the constraints and knowledge are very different”; the department embraces the vineyards of Muscadet and Pays Nantais.

In addition to the hundred or so heritage vineyards that form the basis of the ARVB, around fifty professional growers have joined the scheme, according to November 2020 figures. Currently, 18 winegrowers have already planted 60 hectares (between 2016 and 2021) and there are 38 planting projects in the short term (between 2021 and 2023). “The group of professional winegrowers of which I am currently aware is certainly not a complete inventory”, says Ferrand.