In Simple French

"Australia is going to do the same for the US, in terms of expanding the number of consumers, and thereby the market, as it did in the UK 10 or 15 years ago" Jean Marie Chadronnier, Vinexpo chairman

WELL IT’S all over for another two years.  The mammoth Vinexpo 2003 was the biggest and hottest yet. 

If you weren’t eyeing up those intrepid folk that used a scooter to cut down the 10 minute journey from one end of the main hall to the other, you were likely to be submerging yourself in one of the numerous ornate water features in the Club des Marques in a desperate attempt to cool off.

Among those suffering in the heat was Jean Marie Chadronnier, Vinexpo’s chairman for 2003. He is a softly spoken man who, in addition to his chairmanship of Vinexpo, runs one of Bordeaux’s biggest négociants, Dourthe.

And he’s one of the few in the French wine trade that I have heard talk sensibly and realistically about the challenges that the French wine industry faces.  "If you look at the market at present, the US is a crucial area for growth," says

Chadronnier. "And Australia is going to do the same for the US, in terms of expanding the number of consumers, and thereby the market, as it did in the UK 10 or 15 years ago."

His worry is that France will be left behind in the race for the US and other world markets, much in the same way that it rapidly lost market share in the UK.  Unless French producers wake up to the fact that their production systems and approach need to be updated, argues Chadronnier, they will once again be left behind by the likes of Australia.

"There will be unavoidable consolidation of the companies and systems of production in France," claims Chadronnier.  "We need to simplify the offering to consumers and the way we approach our business.

 It’s happening across the rest of the globe and it will have to happen here."  Furthermore, simplification has to include, according to Chadronnier, the AOC system.  He doesn’t believe it needs to be changed entirely but there does need to be an alternative.  

French producers need the option to be able to sell wines by varietal, as much as by terroir.  "We have to be able to go into the market, working to similar rules and on a similar playing field as everyone else," he argues.

That’s fighting talk.  In France, many regard the AOC system as sacrosanct.  The protector of the holy grail of terroir, the defence against the black arts of globalisation.  "I have no problem with the AOC system in truth," says Chadronnier.

"After all, the rules are drawn up by the growers themselves, so at the end of the day it’s difficult to complain that the rules are not good if you’re part of making them up."  But does he believe that there is room for alternatives?  "Any producer should be allowed to market their own wines and produce their own wines, without unnecessary barriers being put in their way.

I mean, why shouldn’t we have a Vin de Pays de France?  Why can’t a table wine put the name of the varietals used to make it on the front label of the bottle.  I want to believe that this will happen some day and soon, but … "

At Vinexpo, Chadronnier had what diplomats probably refer to as "frank" discussions with the French Minister for Agriculture over submissions for the above changes to what many regard as restrictive enforcements on the country’s winemakers.

 "We talked only about this subject matter.  He told me there would be a decision just before the harvest arrives," says Chadronnier, though he refused to speculate whether that would be in favour of, or against, proposed changes.

I hope the result is positive.  Just walking around the stands at Vinexpo it’s clear to see the magnitude of what France has to offer.  But it’s also clear that the French have to find a simpler way of presenting their wines to people.

That’s not to say that Chablis, Sancerre, etc don’t have their own, very important place, but it strikes me that there does need to be an entry level to French wines.  The likes of Mouton-Cadet are already providing that role to a point, but there’s a whole new generation of wine consumers waiting in the wings.

If the rest of the world is pulling in the direction of marketing wines on a varietal basis, then France doesn’t need to blindly follow, but it doesn’t need to stick its head in the sand either. Because the alternative is that the legions of swaggering French wine producers that crowd the halls of Vinexpo every year will become smaller and smaller.

Their importance in the world will become less and less.  And an event such as Vinexpo will run the risk of becomng a domestic sideshow, rather than the global event it currently is. 

• Charlotte Hey is publisher of The Drinks Business.