French Wine Goes American
French Wine Goes American. Or at least what it imagines is “American.” As far as wine labels are concerned that is. DA BG will be not the first to tell ya that the perception of French Wine by Americans in general is “snobby.”
So, them Froggy grape pushers , smarter than the average rootstock, and wanting to get a bigger piece of the American wine pie, have thrown labelling tradition to the wind .
Coming up with such memorable “American-attracting”(they hope) names as “Prickly French” and “Villa Chambre d’Amour.”
my wine swilling homies at AFP/relax news have the lowdown:
“Behind the trend lies a ferocious fight for market share with New World wines in which the United States is about to become the next battleground.
So far, only a few of the wines that use Vin de France (wine of France) as a country appellation, have trickled into the US because of a dispute about what producers can put on the label.
That is all set to change however with the American authorities having finally agreed to allow wines using a country as their appellation of origin — rather than a region like Beaujolais — to also carry the date of the vintage.
“The major French brand wines want to come to the US when they can put the vintage and the varietal on the label. They’ve been waiting for two years,” said Valerie Pajotin, director of ANIVIN, the communications arm for Vin de France.
A varietal wine is labelled with the grape variety like Merlot, and increasingly around the world it is this that guides consumers’ selection rather than the precise origin of the wine.
Global demand continues to outpace supply for France’s top wines, but the trend towards varietals has made life harder in the middle market with non-French consumers often finding themselves baffled by labels that are the result of a combination of complex rules and centuries of tradition.
“Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet are the hot varietals right now,” said Pierre-Yves Robin, senior wine buyer for American retailer Total Wine.
Consumers however also see a vintage as a badge of quality in wine, which made American retailers reluctant to import French varietals without the year on the label.
The new regime will come into force on November 13.
French producers are hoping this will open the floodgates for the 148 Vin de France wines already approved for sale in the US$30-billion (RM91.8-billion) US market.
Flexibility is the raison d’etre for the Vin de France category.
“There are two advantages — one technical, one commercial,” explains Emmanuel Montes, export director for Les Domaines Auriol in the Languedoc region of southern France.
“Technically, it allows me to blend wine from different regions in France and create a unique product, with homogenous quality, labelled with the vintage and the grape variety.
“Commercially, it puts us in competition with the big wine companies in the New World.”
‘Vintage connotes quality’
Primarily targeting export markets, the Vin de France category came into existence in 2009 with the simultaneous demise of vin de table, or table wine, a category which few were sad to see go.
The challenge has been to convince consumers that it is more than plonk with a snazzy label and both exporters and importers believe vintage dating will help achieve that goal.
“Vintage connotes quality,” said Total Wine’s Robin.
Eric Roure, oenologist at wine merchant LGI in southern France’s Carcassonne, agreed.
“If there is no vintage on the label, the consumer says, ‘hmmm, this is just a table wine, it’s not a quality wine’,” he said. “Our Prickly French varietals with the vintage are selling really well in the UK and the Netherlands.”
Despite barriers to the American market, Vin de France production has grown from 300,000 hectolitres in 2009 to 1.23 million hectolitres in 2011.
Castel, the giant French drinks company, produced 110 million bottles of Vin de France in 2011. While only 328,593 bottles were sent to America, China took 14 million.
Smaller operators see an opportunity to attack specific export markets with tailored products.
“The Chinese always want exclusivity,” said Philippe Carrant of Wines Overland. “We’re selling our Vin de France private brands Lafleur Gloria in China for exclusive distribution.”
In Sweden, Les Domaines Auriol won a contract with the state monopoly for one million hectolitres of organic wine.
“That was not easy. We had to go to 80 growers,” said Montes. “We couldn’t have done it without the Vin de France label.”
Quality also comes into play.
“Vin de France was created for the big operators, but for us, a small operator, it’s given us the opportunity to create a high-quality brand wine,” said Roure. “Our idea is not to take the basic wine from each region, but some of the best — the best of what France can do. This is what we’ve done with Prickly French.” —
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THROW ME A BONE HERE, PEOPLE!
What are ya thinkin’?
talk about an about face – the french contributing to american culture! too cool!
kinda sad in a way to see that the french need america to stay afloat…but.;that’s business i guess
hey debbie….i don’t really think the french wine industry is gonna die if we don’t buy their wine….;but i get your poin tho’
what i find amazing is that you keep coming up witrh new and interesting stuff about wine!
i wonder how the hard core “french bashers” will react to this?
hey carvin….if you mean the “freedom fries” crowd who blamed the french people for their president’s decision….they don’t deserve any french wine……or fries!
hey bart and carvin…..you’re making a good point….in the western world..we elect our leaders…then they do what THEY think is best…they don’t ask us if we agree or disagree with what they do….we’ve put our confidence in them……and they do what they want…..bush wanted iraq…chirac wanted out of the alliance….
who but a brain dead idiot would blame the people of either(any) country for their leader’s decision?
a great reminder that france and the usa have more in common than just the statur of liberty!
right you are bob….and to that list….don’t forget the french general lafayette…who came to ouir aid against the british..
and NEVER SENT A BILL! – take that french bashers!
great comment/observation homer! could that be the reason there is a city in california named after him? (hmmmmmm)
one thing i noticed in your report..that i haven’t seen anyone else mention in the comments (yet)..is the fact that China remains a big importer of french wine.