A renowned and slightly rebellious wine merchant, Lenaïc Tevelle, a Bordeaux native through and through, created La CUV (“cave utile en ville”, a useful wine shop in town) in 2011. The surveyor of the territory became a defender of Bordeaux after having lambasted it. An exemplary transformation that he tells us about here.
What can you tell us about Bordeaux’s image?
When I talk about Bordeaux with the consumer who comes into my shop, they still have a great many preconceptions about these wines: Bordeaux is expensive, it’s oaky and it’s prestigious, or else Bordeaux has nothing to complain about. This confusion lies, in my view, in the marketing and distribution actions carried out by these classified growths and other grands crus, which inject into consumers’ minds that Bordeaux is almost exclusively the grands crus. As proof, I offer a conversation I had a few days ago with a lover of “fine” bottles who explained to me that he did not understand the Bordeaux crisis and that anyone should feel sorry for these rich owners. He was of course aiming at the wrong target, targeting the 3% of great families and big owners — who are not sheltered from the crisis either. Of course the “small” winegrowers are struggling today, between the difficulty of being distributed and that of getting themselves recognised. A situation linked, and this must not be concealed, to past mistakes that saw most of the “small” ones fall in the wake of the grands crus, as pale imitations. From the 1990s to the 2010s, a majority of these winegrowers followed those locomotives that sold everywhere on the globe, adopting the same winemaking methods. A herd behaviour that took on the trappings of a massive Parkerisation of Bordeaux production. The story is very well known. These locomotives have now run out of coal and are unable to pull all the carriages. Those “small” carriages found themselves by the side of the track because they were suddenly outdated in organoleptic style, in communication or marketing and suddenly in the shade of the wines of the Languedoc, the Loire and the New World.
How is this trend evolving?
It seems to me that this hiatus between the consumer and Bordeaux is about to be erased. In any case, for it to be erased completely, winegrowers must own the wines they want to make and be wary of trends. There is little point in making sulphite-free wine just to make sulphite-free wine. That is neither natural nor necessarily virtuous. One must be driven by values aimed at prescribing a terroir, a landscape, at being accessible. That said, I remain convinced that this vineyard remains, of all vineyards, the most accessible in France.
Isn’t the quest for ever lower prices a race to the bottom from which nobody will emerge a winner?
That’s quite right. In my world as a wine merchant, I maintain that below a certain price I cannot guarantee a fine selection, since the winegrower will not be able to honour the ecological commitments that are more than important for the sustainability of our vineyards. The “little wine at 5 euros” plan remains the preserve of a few rare people. Farming and processing the product have a cost that is little known, especially if one adds the cost caused by the weather hazards linked to climate change.
Should the wine merchant today commit to supporting the industry?
I am from Bordeaux, my family comes from the Médoc; if I don’t come from a winegrowing family, I come from a “wine essence”. I was brought up in this universe; my grandfather went hunting with the estate manager of Château Margaux. In 2011, when I created La CUV, I found Bordeaux dusty and I presented myself as a hunter of Languedoc or Loire. With only 20% Bordeaux references in my shop, I was an unwitting player in Bordeaux bashing. I readily admit it. I defended myself at the time by claiming that I was selling a wine for an occasion, a meal… and Bordeaux did not meet these wine-merchant prerequisites. Three years ago I had a heated discussion with a Parisian sommelier who explained to me that the vines of Bordeaux should be razed. A violent shock that reminded me that I should be a better promoter of my industry, of what is done well in it, for this sommelier and for all the detractors of Bordeaux. For three years I have been a mouthpiece for Bordeaux through a large number of actions such as 100% indie, 100% Bordeaux, or 100% organic and local, bringing in winegrowers I don’t necessarily know. These operations showcase winegrowers not affiliated with big groups and committed to an environmentally respectful, local industry. I want to promote a new generation! Careful, I still have old-style, reassuring Bordeaux since a few devotees still ask me for them (laughs). I want to open the shop to Bordeaux viticulture and not necessarily to the Bordeaux AOPs, since I am not sure that the latter alone represent the region’s know-how. This allows me to offer some very nice 100% Malbec as Vin de France, wines from vineyards with other planting densities… We must be uncompromising proselytisers. To consumers who tell us anything but Bordeaux, we should not say OK but ask why!
Have you ever been wrong?
Yes, and I would like to tell this story. I have a friend who works at Sallebœuf at Lafite Monteil, a former property of the descendants of Gustave Eiffel. For 10 years, this childhood friend has been chasing me to list his wines. I refused, arguing that these wines were not very desirable, even boring, from the packaging to the product, including their presence in supermarkets. I resolved to visit him and I was bowled over by the beauty of the place, by a gem, entirely organic, poorly exploited but run by a very committed and demanding estate manager! At the back of his cellar he let me taste a magnificent jar of Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon. That gave me the idea to co-create with him a cuvée dressed in a new label, exclusively reserved for La CUV and now for the on-trade, sold at the fair price of 13 euros retail at the shop. All wine merchants should carry out actions like this.
What are the Crus Classés for?
They are indispensable! Over the end-of-year festive season I sold more Bordeaux than in other years. To speak of the role of the grands crus, I would say that they must become locomotives again. They have the means, they are still distributed; let them become prescribers of novelties again, supporters of the industry by securing the little carriages needed for the workings of the whole industry.
