Castel gets a foot in the door of Plaimont with dry Jurançon wines

he co-operative group Plaimont – which has 600 member growers in South-West France farming 3,000 ha of vines in IGP Côtes de Gascogne and 2,000 ha of appellation vines in the Pyrenean foothills – is poised to venture into the Jurançon wine region by benefiting from the winemaking resources of Confrerie du Jurançon, a subsidiary of the Bordeaux group Castel Frères based in Monein. The partnership agreement between the Gascon co-operative wineries and France’s leading negociant has already been signed and “allows them to combine their respective skills to promote the Jurançon appellation and support business”, said a press release issued by Castel. The agreement opens up new marketing prospects for winegrowers whose grape supply contracts have not been renewed in 2023.

“We will start on a small scale, with 15 to 20 winegrowers”, said Plaimont director, Olivier Bourdet-Pees. Castel, which has had a foothold in Jurançon for twenty years, says it is maintaining its business through the partnership, which, it says, paves the way for it to restructure and not withdraw from the appellation. Plaimont states that it did not have any strategic desire to develop Jurançon, but that it responded to interest expressed by companies due to the availability of production facilities, thereby meeting regulatory requirements that make it compulsory to produce the wines within the appellation area.