2018

From Bordeaux with love: a wishlist for 2018

February 2, 2018

A great vintage, more tourism, new appellations, and a desire to preserve Nature’s bounty….these are some of what the Bordeaux’s wine industry’s movers and shakers have on top of their wishlist for 2018

We are already well into the New Year of 2018 and the wine professionals of Bordeaux are filling up their freshly-opened diaries with numerous events, tastings and tours scheduled for the next 12 months. Brinda Bourhis, guest columnist, Between the Wines spoke to key personalities in the Bordeaux wine industry to discover what they were hoping that 2018 would bring for the world of wine… and particularly for Bordeaux wine.

Alexander de Lur Saluces

‘Appellation Sauternes’

Alexandre de Lur Saluces

Owner, Château de Fargues, Sauternes

“I am hoping that Sauternes is put back in its place as an appellation. Sauternes is too unfairly forgotten in many countries, including France, and is an extraordinary wine, unique in the world, full of life and joie de vivre.

Recognizable for its golden look, this wine can brighten a world in need of happiness to face the difficulties of life that fill the pages of newspapers.”

Nicolas Mähler-Besse

‘A great 2018 vintage and growth in India’

Nicolas Mähler-Besse,

CEO, Seguin Moreau Cooperage

“In 2018, I wish for Bordeaux to produce a great vintage with good volumes of wine after having suffered from frost in April 2017. This could happen, because after the other big frost (in 1991) the following vintage, 1992 was a pretty big harvest!

Also, I’d like the Indian wine market to continue to grow. We have already several very good local producers using our barrels like Sula or Grover, who are advised by famous wine consultants. I see the quality has been improving constantly over the last few years! I wish them a great 2018 harvest too!”

Catharine Leparmentier Dayot

‘Bordeaux, wine tourism’s world capital!’

Catherine Leparmentier Dayot

Managing director, Great Wine Capitals Global Network

“I wish Bordeaux, the wine capital of the world, becomes the wine tourism capital of the world!

We are so very lucky to belong to the Great Wine Capitals Global Network that sets Bordeaux on the top 10 wine destinations list. We certainly have the assets to hit the first place now with the incredible Cité du Vin which just welcomed their 425,000th visitor. And 2018 will also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Bordeaux Wine Festival – we are expecting more than 650,000 visitors!

I also wish the tourists find their way to the Bordeaux vineyards and live these unique wine tourism experiences! More and more chateaux are ready to welcome international visitors with high-end offerings in terms of amazing architecture in their cellars, playful tasting classes, great food or romantic accommodation.”

Hubert de Boüard and Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal

‘Respect for Nature and her bounty’

Hubert de Boüard and his daughter Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal

Owners, Château Angelus (Premier Grand Cru Classé A, St Emilion)

“Our first wish is for Nature to offer us beautiful grapes in good quantities. The demand for wine is continuing to grow around the globe and in new markets, India being one of them. People are also seeking exceptional wines such as those of Château Angelus.

Our second wish is to have vines cultivated with respect to the ecosystem in order to protect our environment and to conserve what has been passed onto us.”

Philippe Larche

‘A productive harvest’

Philippe Larche

Export director, Vintex wine merchants

“The world of wine is in constant evolution, and merchants and producers have to constantly adapt to the situation (climate conditions, economic conjecture, change of tastes, the emergence of new markets…)

This year the Bordeaux wine industry will face the challenge of a small 2017 harvest. Our challenge will be to manage it as smoothly as possible so that it does not affect our traditional markets and so that we do not lose market share. But I trust the Bordeaux trade to manage that.
I cross my fingers for a more productive crop in 2018 and the pursuit of that trend that drives us to a wine-making process that is more eco-friendly and bio-sensitive.

Both China and the USA should confirm their almost equal status as number one importers of Bordeaux wines, which offers us a great perspective of development still to come.”

Philippe Massol

‘Appreciation for wine worldwide’

Philippe Massol

Managing director, Cité du Vin

“I have just one wish: to have more cultural recognition and appreciation for the world of wine.”

About Brinda Bourhis

After five years working for a major Bordeaux wine merchant, British-born Brinda
Bourhis has a solid knowledge and experience of the wines of the one of the finest
regions in the world: Bordeaux.
She owns Winevox, a company that provides quality wine education including the
WSET course, wine marketing and translations for the French wine industry.
Winevox also runs an on-going ambassador programme in the US for the Crus Bourgeois du Medoc, organising masterclasses at top universities such as Stanford, Columbia, Yale and staff-training for wine retail stores as well as tastings for private wine clubs and associations.

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Guest Column

Gaia Gaja on climate change and wine: ‘Wine is an interpretation of nature…’

January 19, 2018

Gaia Gaja takes a moment in her vineyards

‘Fire & Rain’, the very thought-provoking session on climate change and wine during Vinexpo 2017 in which Gaia Gaja participated along with Miguel A Torres and several other experts, has stayed on my mind long after the event. These leaders of the wine community sounded a clarion call about the dangers of climate change and the urgency with which it needs to be tackled.

Climate change as we know now is no fairy-tale bogeyman. It is very real and it is already affecting us in many ways. For the wine lovers among us, it will without a doubt change the wine in your glass. Not for the better. Ergo, climate change and wine and closely linked, now and in the future.

The Vinexpo session, troubling and riveting as it was, left me with a keenness to understand more. No better person to start with than Gaia Gaja, known for her passion and commitment to the cause of the world of wine.

On the heels of a visit by Gaja’s Sara Cabrele to India to promote their wines, I made contact with Gaia Gaja and broached the subject with her.

Hello, Gaia.

That was a very stimulating session on climate change and the wine industry at Vinexpo 2017 in Bordeaux.

Tell me about the biggest challenges from climate change that you, as wine producers, are facing today, and what these problems can lead to if not tackled soon.

Gaia Gaja speaks on climate change and wine at Vinexpo 2017. Photo: Vinexpo/Philippe Labeguerie

Climate change changes the behaviour of insects, the availability of water in the soil, the dynamics of photosynthesis, the physiological processes of the vines – therefore the timing of the ripening of the grapes. All the changes require a reconsideration of all aspects (of winemaking) and a need to refocus attention on different parameters with respect to the past.

The changes we have to apply involve, among others, the way and the timing of the pruning, the height of the canopy, the timing of the harvest, the management of the grassing (grass can be managed in order to protect the soil from the sun or expose it, to attract the good insects or keep away the bad ones, to keep moist or to take away water accordingly to the different needs) and so on.

How is climate change affecting the specific grapes you are growing and most famous for – such as Nebbiolo and Sangiovese?

There are good and bad effects.

Climate change is making elegance, drinkability and mid-structured wines rarer.

(more…)