Not all of France’s co-operative wineries are suffering a downturn

it by declining wine consumption nationwide and the impact of inflation, the Languedoc wine industry is suffering from economic headwinds. Some co-operative wineries, however, are managing to weather the storm.

A case in point is Alma Cersius. The winery marketed the equivalent of 7.5 million bottles in 2022, smashing its previous record on the back of a 25% surge in sales compared with 2021. And the trend has continued through the first four months of this year, with growth totalling 36%.

“We are reaping the rewards of a strategy introduced in 2005 when we decided to develop sales of bottled wines to enhance the value of our production”, explains the chairman of the Hérault co-operative, Marc Robert. “We recruited a new director specifically with this purpose in mind. Over the past twenty or so years, we have developed export markets – accounting for 70% of our sales – and the domestic market and now sell 73% of our wines in bottles or boxes. Alongside this development, we reviewed our production methods to cope with market demand. We introduced very precise specifications including single vineyard selections, picking grapes at peak ripeness and specific winemaking techniques based on the desired style. All of this combined to improve quality significantly. In fact, we are one of the top three award-winning co-operatives in Occitania”.

At Anne de Joyeuse, in Aude, the figures also speak volumes about the winery’s success. In 2022, sales broke the 2019 record with 2020 and 2021 negatively impacted by Covid-19. Last year, the winery marketed 6.3 million bottles, up 15% on 2019. And over the first four months of 2023, sales have grown by 25% in the domestic market and 18% overseas.

Again, the results stem from a marketing strategy introduced in 2007 and since then, the co-operative has never wavered from the chosen tack, developing bottled sales entirely in the on-trade and in wine merchants. This approach is supported by a hard-hitting marketing strategy aimed at energising sales. The co-op launched the ‘Rien à cirer’ – meaning Couldn’t Care Less – range of three pop-up wines that break with classic marketing cues. The range comprises a Gewurztraminer 50% matured in casks; a blend of Syrah and Malbec and a whole-cluster fermentation Syrah grown in high-elevation vineyards.