Bernard Magrez is a key player in Bordeaux, a visionary of table wine and gastronomy. His word carries weight, at the height of his empire. He owns forty vineyards in eight countries. He includes both the buyer of a 5 euro bottle in a supermarket and the guest of a Michelin-starred restaurant who goes to delight in one of his four Bordeaux grands crus: Fombrauge in Saint-Emilion, La Tour Carnet in Haut-Médoc, Pape Clément in Pessac-Léognan and Clos Haut-Peyraguey in Sauternes.
Bernard Magrez is such a great actor that Amazon Prime will broadcast a ninety-minute documentary dedicated to him in the autumn. The boss watched it in June. We don’t know what he thinks about it. But he must appreciate the title, Never give upwhich is his favorite formula – he markets a beer called Nunka. never means “never” in Spanish and Portuguese.
We wanted to know Bernard Magrez’s opinion on the The problems of the Bordeaux people, who, to use a strong phrase from Jacques Chirac, fly in squadrons: overproduction of wine, difficult sales, uprooting of vines, less fashionable tastes among young people seduced by beer, increasing foreign competition… Don’t play all that down. But complaining is not the style of this 88-year-old. Finding cures, yes. He says he has confidence in the region, “Too much, perhaps”convinced that orders will start again, “Probably not for everyone in the region”And if he still does forty-five minutes of gym every morning, it is to keep working hard and all the time. “ Being hungry is my life! »
He attacks the issue that worries him most: the French are drinking less wine. He does not believe in a reversal of the trend. “All my life I have been afraid of being part of a market that is becoming impoverished. I am there.” Establish a bond with a “Increasing hygiene” and the fact that France brandishes the dangers of alcohol when other producing countries, Italy in particular, promote their vineyards.
“Adapting to people’s tastes”
If the consumer rejects the wine, it is not a matter of giving him a slap on the wrist. “he is the king”. Bernard Magrez is convinced that the only way is “adapt to people’s tastes” to grab a larger slice of a pie that is shrinking in size. “I don’t like it, but it’s the only solution.” In this field, it has already proven in the past that it excels by launching William Peel whisky, Pitters port and Malesan claret, three popular brands.
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