Behind the cumulonimbus

The economic situation, rains and announced low yields fundamentally sabre the industry’s morale, we will not deny it, and yet behind the cumulonimbus there are reasons to hope. Judging by a feature in the Revue des Vins de France titled “Bordeaux Autrement” (Bordeaux Differently), we can clearly read that the time is no longer one only of systematic denigration. On the contrary, these writings give the very distinct impression that opinion is turning to the case of Bordeaux, and quite often to show solidarity with this age-old purveyor of Bacchic pleasures, of “original, joyful, racy, unexpected, radical” wines, to quote the RVF again. As Ludovic Creuzé, the broker interviewed in “Industry Voices”, puts it, it is pro domo that the shoe sometimes pinches. The Place de Bordeaux must ostensibly show solidarity by swelling still further the number of Gironde wines on the menus of restaurants and bars.

Invention and innovation

The young winegrower Sylvain Pauzet, of our “Spotlight”, speaks for his part of the necessary overhaul of the profiles of certain wines, of the collective obligation to reinvent ourselves again and again. Something Bordeaux has often known how to do, because, as Le Rouge & Le Blanc recalled in a recent editorial, “there are obviously very good easy-drinking wines”, while also reminding us that “some grands crus take on a bewitching patina after long keeping”. Our partner INNO’VIN, an inexhaustible source of technological solutions to ecological challenges, among other things, will also allow us to imagine other tomorrows and the wines of tomorrow. As Gilles Brianceau, its director, says, innovation must remain at the heart of the industry’s concerns, especially in these difficult times.

La Liste Féret

A piece of news that will certainly be balm for the heart of most of you: the oldest independent French publishing house has announced the release next spring of La Liste Féret, the women and men who make Bordeaux and the Gironde! News that marks the return of Féret and has attracted good media coverage (1). The venerable house is giving itself the means to be once again the sounding board of the Gironde’s fine initiatives and personalities. The wine industry will therefore have its full place in it.

On this subject, do not hesitate to send us the names of personalities who in your view deserve to appear in this guide, see link below: Recommendation form for the guide to personalities

Finally, from quarterly, this Lettre Féret now becomes monthly, so as to relay your news more strongly and more regularly.

Happy end of harvest to all.

Faithfully yours,

Henry Clemens,

Publication Director

(1) Press review for La Liste Féret:

• The Éditions Féret change hands and “take up the book wager again” – Rue89Bordeaux
• Gironde: After their famous guide, the Féret editions launch their Who’s Who! (echos-judiciaires.com)
• Publishing: Féret to make its return to books with its “List” of Gironde personalities (placeco.fr)
• Wine: businessman Julien Parrou-Duboscq takes over the Éditions Féret in Bordeaux (sudouest.fr)