MARKETING: Red Evolution

The Project Cabernet Franc is a winemaking initiative aimed at improving the quality of, and effectively marketing, red wine from the Loire. It is a long-term strategy, not a quick-fix solution, says Katrina Alloway

Pour la France qui se leve tôt. For the France which gets up early. President Sarkozy’s election slogan rings in my ears as I drive towards Baudry-Dutour, Chinon producer, to start harvesting. Getting up at dawn seems to be the theme of the moment; it is also one of the main tenets of the Loire Project Cabernet Franc protocol. “Fruit should be in the cellar before 11am,” it proclaims. All very wirthy I’m sure, but it’s still dark out there!
This is not the only time I see a link between Project Cabernet Franc and the new French administration: both are being trumpeted as a new beginning, and yet both are being viewed with a healthy degree of scepticism. No one expects a quick fix. However the fact that they’re in place is an acknowledgement that not everything (or indeed everyone) is working in France and there is a need for change. So leaving Sarkozy in the Elysée Palace, let’s focus on Project Cabernet Franc.

Quality and communication
Essentially a winemaking initiative, the Project focuses on improving the quality of Loire Cabernet Franc and then marketing wines effectively. “UK buyers were complaining that our product wasn’t consistent enough,” explains René-Louis David, secrétaire général of marketing board InterLoire. “We created Project Cabernet Franc to capitalise on the huge potential of our red wines, without compromising authenticity. Our ultimate aim is to increase sales of Loire red wines in key export markets.”
So how did the Project start? Back in 2005 members of the Syndicat in the Loire and InterLoire got together because there was a general recognition that in order to stop export sales from slipping away there was a need for an overhaul. Jean-Max Manceau, president of the Chinon Syndicat, explains: “We realised that we couldn’t say, ‘the consumer knows nothing and we don’t care’; we had to start listening.” So Project Cabernet Franc was born.

One of the Project’s first decisions in 2005 was to appoint New Zealand winemaker and ex-Marks & Spencer wine buyer, Sam Harrop MW, as a consultant.
“My role has evolved in the last two years,” he says. “Initially it was much more hands-on. I worked with the Technical Commission at InterLoire to write a base protocol as a directive to making consumer-friendly, balanced wines for the export market. I also supervised some trial wines in 2005. An important part of the task is to communicate what are clearly some big efforts in the region to improve quality and awareness of this exciting grape variety.”
But implementing this winemaking protocol is where there’s a lot of Gallic laissez-faire. Talking to a half a dozen producers in the region, while all agree with the goals of the protocol, ie, fruity, balanced wines, they are picking and choosing what to implement.
Arnaud Couly-Dutheil, winemaker at Chinon producer Couly-Dutheil, is keen on some of the protocol’s ideas. “I think the biggest change Harrop has introduced is switching to softer, lighter maceration. We’re not used to this in the Loire. I’ve used this technique for the last couple of vintages and had good results.”

Progress is being made
Other points are getting a cooler reception though. Many winemakers prefer to use natural rather than manufactured yeast and I didn’t see a single vigneron stop harvesting at 11am. The Loire just ain’t that hot.
Harrop is unfazed. “The protocol is a living document,” he says, “and it should continually change as more producers refer to it each vintage. Plus where there is debate on the multitude of techniques available to achieve balance in Loire Cabernet Franc, there is clearly a growing will to progress, which is the real objective of this project.”

Harrop is probably wise to not be too prescriptive. Firstly, keeping the protocol adaptable is a recognition that the Loire wine industry is still run by strong-minded individuals. Secondly, a “one-size-fits-all” approach is impractical, because in the Loire there are many systems of winery ownership, terroir and wine style.
The project has a group of “Ambassador Wines”, which were selected in a blind tasting by Harrop, journalist Sarah Ahmed and myself. They are being presented at tastings as examples of what good, export-friendly, Cabernet Franc can be.
“We hosted a seminar at LIWSF, which was in May, when there’s lots to do in the vineyard,” says Manceau, “but everyone was there. We know it’s important to get out there and talk about what we are doing and find out what people want.”
The seminar was attended by Waitrose wine buyer Nick Room. “Waitrose customers have always tended to favour French wines,” he says, “and in this context, the Loire is one of the better areas. We have extended our range of Loire reds in the past couple of years and seen good results from this initiative.”

Slow burner
Tesco has also recently added a Chinon from Couly-Dutheil to its shelves. Arnaud Couly-Dutheil has worked closely with Harrop and describes the wine as being “in the spirit of the project”. Tesco buyer Graham Nash says: “Prior to our category review we had no Loire reds. I am happy with the quality and performance of this new addition to date and thus envisage Cab Franc remaining within our strategy.”
So as the Project goes into its third year its effects are slowly starting to materialise. Thomas Meunier, export manager at Domaine Frédéric Mabileau, describes the Project as “more of an evolution than a revolution”, but then an evolution is what Loire Cabernet Franc needs. Loire vignerons are looking for a long-term sustained improvement in sales, not a political firework.

After the election in France there’s a feeling that things are shifting in the national agenda, as Manceau says, “it’s like the country has woken up”. Cabernet Franc producers too are getting up early and facing up to some hard economic facts, which means now there’s a strong sense of future in the Loire. Times they are a changin’. 

 © db January 2008