They decided to regroup in order to better defend themselves. Even before the crisis in wine sales hit Bordeaux, they had already prepared their harvests in battle order. And today, the scent of victory is in the air, with a dozen references selected for the autumn wine fairs. This is Vignobles Gabriel & Co, a name that brings together around thirty Bordeaux winegrowers from the right bank of the Garonne. Thanks to this atypical structure, this collective, which straddles trade, cooperation and independent viticulture, sells around 6 million bottles each year, at reasonable prices (7 euros on average).
“This hybrid model allows us to pool ideas and technical resources, promote the identity of each winemaker, build a sales force and also promote ethical and environmental commitment.”, “We are very proud of our company,” says Jean-François Réaud, 63, the company’s president and founder. “The model is virtuous: two-thirds of the producers now work in organic farming and all the bottles bear the Fair for Life logo, a label awarded by Ecocert that attests to fair trade practices.”
Jean-François Réaud, the winemaker and owner of Châteaux Le Grand Moulin, Les Aubiers and Haut Sociondo in the Blaye-Côtes-de-Bordeaux appellation, does not deny that the Bordeaux market is in a bleak situation, with sales down 7.1% in the last year. But the founder of Vignobles Gabriel & Co wants to believe in the strengths of his project, which has grown outside the Bordeaux market, the commercial system that governs the marketing of more than 70% of the region’s wines.
The history of the group is first and foremost its own. When, in the early 1980s, it took over the family farm of Grand Moulin in northern Gironde, with the remaining 7 hectares of vineyards, it wanted to break free from the consensual system of Gironde trade. “I discovered that this model deprived us of consumer feedback”“Justifies Jean-François Réaud. But no matter how hard the young winemaker tries to promote his wines, his sales are falling. “The bank threatened to leave me, I had to find a high-volume market.”
From DIY to mastery
Instead of selling wholesale to retailers, he attempted to penetrate mass distribution: “A Carrefour buyer, who liked my wine, made me understand that if I wanted to avoid the “place de Bordeaux”, I would have to become a merchant to ensure consistent quality and volume.”
You have 57.94% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
