Provence Wines signals ‘change of direction’

With exports of Provençal rosé to the UK rising by 18% in May, the new president of the Provence Wine Council (CIVP) has announced plans to “change direction” and instead focus the organisation’s efforts on more strongly promoting the region’s red, white and sparkling rosé wines.

Alain Baccino, newly appointed president of the CIVP

“Provence is known globally as the spiritual home of rosé, but it is wrong to overlook our reds, whites and sparking rosés”, said Alain Baccino, who was appointed president of the generic body at its AGM on 29 June.

Rosé has been enjoying marked success recently, particularly in the UK and US where key figures have argued the category has a real opportunity to push into higher price points. Rosé accounts for 88.5% of Provence’s production, with the CIVP’s latest figures revealing that export volumes to the UK of style for May 2015 were up by 18% on the previous year.

Recognising this success, Baccino has said the CIVP would now turn its attention towards the region’s other wines, focusing more strongly on promoting its red, white and sparkling rosé wines, the latter not yet having acquired AOP status in the region.

“It is no secret that our rosé wines are currently enjoying great success, but it is the responsibility of the CIVP to find ways to ensure sustainability”, said Baccino. “The fact that our rosé wines have achieved such notoriety provides us with the best platform to begin marketing everything that we produce.”

As well a push on wines other than rosé, Jean-Jacques Bréban, 2nd Vice President of the CIVP, said the organisation also needed to recognise changing consumer tastes, offer a clear range of wines in terms of both quality and price and redouble its communication efforts in order to maintain the region’s presence both in France and wider export markets.

Eric Dufavet was also recently appointed director of the CIVP, taking over from François Millo after 25 years in the role. Dufavet has extensive knowledge of the industry having worked as deputy director of the CIVP for the past 12 years.

Alain Baccino is a Côtes de Provence Pierrefeu winemaker and brings 25 years of agricultural experience to the President role, replacing wine merchant Jean-Jacques Bréban, now 2nd vice president.