From The (London) Times today. No comment (except that they should ask E&G Gallo first...)
BUSINESS: FRENCH VINEYARDS URGED TO BE THE NEW JACOB'S CREEK
By Adam Sage
SACREBLEU! Forget regional identity and promote the grape? The very idea has drawn the wrath of purists.
But that is what critics of the French wine industry have suggested needs to happen if it is to recapture market share from its New World rivals
Gallic vineyards have been told they must pool their resources to make wines known by the grape variety - such as Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. But the call by critics has infuriated purists, who claim that each French wine is the unique product of an encounter between a microclimate, a soil and a human hand.
They say the idea of brands is an assault on traditional labels noting the region, the district and the vineyard in which the wine was made.
But resistance to change appears to be waning after what Le Figaro described as France's annus horribilis. Exports of wines and spirits - the country's third-biggest foreign currency earner after aircraft and cosmetics - fell 16.6 per cent in value to euros 7.7 billion (pounds 6.8 billion) in 2009, according to figures released by the Federation of French Wine and Spirits Exporters.
Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy all recorded big falls. The only group to buck the trend and enjoy an export rise were cheap vins de tables.
Claude de Jouvencel, the federation's chairman, said drinkers around the world had cut their consumption and switched to downmarket wines and spirits in the recession. The drop was particularly acute in France's two biggest export markets, the UK, where sales fell 20.2 per cent, and the US, where they were down 22.7 per cent.
He held out hope for an improvement this year, but added that it would be "very slim", with overall growth in exports unlikely to exceed 5 per cent. "The recovery is by no means certain and we're staying cautious."
His warning that 2010 could again prove disappointing for French producers served to catalyse the longstanding debate over their marketing.
"We lack products with a clear brand name and grape variety to reinforce our offer on the Anglo-Saxon markets," Mr de Jouvencel said, adding his voice to the growing movement in favour of sweeping reforms designed to produce a Gallic equivalent of Australia's Jacob's Creek.
France has a few big, branded wines, such as Malesan and Baron de Lestac, but has tens of thousands of others produced by small vineyards.
Even Bruno Le Maire, the French Agriculture Minister, threw off decades of official conservatism to risk angering producers with a call for the creation of what are officially known as varietal wines.
"The world wants varietal wines. That's how New World wines have managed to succeed in the export market," he said. "Why shouldn't we do the same thing?"
Guillaume Ryckwaert, chairman of Raphael Michel, the wine merchant, said: "Consumers already have difficulty placing France on a map. How can you expect them to understand the difference between a Gigondas and a Vacqueyras?"
Critics point out that France's share of the global wine market has fallen from 51 per cent in 1990 to 34 per cent last year.
In Bordeaux, the celebrated Chateau Lafite may generate handsome profits, but according to one recent study, about 60 per cent of vineyards are struggling to break even.
BUSINESS: FRENCH VINEYARDS URGED TO BE THE NEW JACOB'S CREEK
By Adam Sage
SACREBLEU! Forget regional identity and promote the grape? The very idea has drawn the wrath of purists.
But that is what critics of the French wine industry have suggested needs to happen if it is to recapture market share from its New World rivals
Gallic vineyards have been told they must pool their resources to make wines known by the grape variety - such as Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. But the call by critics has infuriated purists, who claim that each French wine is the unique product of an encounter between a microclimate, a soil and a human hand.
They say the idea of brands is an assault on traditional labels noting the region, the district and the vineyard in which the wine was made.
But resistance to change appears to be waning after what Le Figaro described as France's annus horribilis. Exports of wines and spirits - the country's third-biggest foreign currency earner after aircraft and cosmetics - fell 16.6 per cent in value to euros 7.7 billion (pounds 6.8 billion) in 2009, according to figures released by the Federation of French Wine and Spirits Exporters.
Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy all recorded big falls. The only group to buck the trend and enjoy an export rise were cheap vins de tables.
Claude de Jouvencel, the federation's chairman, said drinkers around the world had cut their consumption and switched to downmarket wines and spirits in the recession. The drop was particularly acute in France's two biggest export markets, the UK, where sales fell 20.2 per cent, and the US, where they were down 22.7 per cent.
He held out hope for an improvement this year, but added that it would be "very slim", with overall growth in exports unlikely to exceed 5 per cent. "The recovery is by no means certain and we're staying cautious."
His warning that 2010 could again prove disappointing for French producers served to catalyse the longstanding debate over their marketing.
"We lack products with a clear brand name and grape variety to reinforce our offer on the Anglo-Saxon markets," Mr de Jouvencel said, adding his voice to the growing movement in favour of sweeping reforms designed to produce a Gallic equivalent of Australia's Jacob's Creek.
France has a few big, branded wines, such as Malesan and Baron de Lestac, but has tens of thousands of others produced by small vineyards.
Even Bruno Le Maire, the French Agriculture Minister, threw off decades of official conservatism to risk angering producers with a call for the creation of what are officially known as varietal wines.
"The world wants varietal wines. That's how New World wines have managed to succeed in the export market," he said. "Why shouldn't we do the same thing?"
Guillaume Ryckwaert, chairman of Raphael Michel, the wine merchant, said: "Consumers already have difficulty placing France on a map. How can you expect them to understand the difference between a Gigondas and a Vacqueyras?"
Critics point out that France's share of the global wine market has fallen from 51 per cent in 1990 to 34 per cent last year.
In Bordeaux, the celebrated Chateau Lafite may generate handsome profits, but according to one recent study, about 60 per cent of vineyards are struggling to break even.