30,000 students educated about Bordeaux by the 1855 Grands Crus Classés

n average, 2,000 students are trained every year to taste 1855 M̩doc, Sauternes and Barsac Grands Crus as future industry opinion-leaders Рsommeliers, hospitality staff, sales managers, business school graduates and experts in vine and wine law, to name a few. The training programmes range from visits to vineyards, by 40 students from the prestigious London-based Institute of Masters of Wine, to the fifteen or so local students from the sommelier section of the Talence Hospitality School near Bordeaux. They also include tastings in venues in France and around the world, from hospitality schools in Lausanne, Switzerland, Vilnius in Lithuania and Taiwan to the Cornell University hotel section in the United States.

Whatever the location and profile of the students, there is always direct contact to leave a lasting impression on participants: “It is always an owner or director of a Grand Cru Classé who makes the presentation to ensure the students' questions get the most appropriate answers, we never have speakers”, says Sylvain Boivert, director of the 1855 Grands Crus Classés council, adding “we have made a point of specialising in going to places where few people go to deliver education and spread the word. Countries include Turkey, Greece, Montenegro, Finland, the Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Australia”. This strategy of annual and occasional training sessions on-site and in training centres has allowed the Grands Crus Classés to reach out to an estimated 30,000 students and opinion leaders over the last 20 years. “It is essential to give future opinion leaders access to our fine wines. In this competitive world, we have to explain and educate them about why our region and our wines are unique”, adds Boivert.