Daniel Mouty, 75, is the head of Vignobles Mouty, in Sainte-Terre, near Saint-Émilion, in Gironde. With his children Sabine and Bertrand, he operates 60 hectares (300,000 bottles produced) in various AOCs. He is also president of the Federation of Independent Winegrowers of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
As you are going to participate in the Bordeaux Independent Winegrowers’ Show, how is this type of marketing going where you are in direct contact with individuals?
The French…
Daniel Mouty, 75, is the head of Vignobles Mouty, in Sainte-Terre, near Saint-Émilion, in Gironde. With his children Sabine and Bertrand, he operates 60 hectares (300,000 bottles produced) in various AOCs. He is also president of the Federation of Independent Winegrowers of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
As you are going to participate in the Bordeaux Independent Winegrowers’ Show, how is this type of marketing going where you are in direct contact with individuals?
The French continue to buy wine. Since the start of the year, we have had three exhibitions (Strasbourg, Luxembourg, Rennes) and orders have been placed. This model where the individual customer is in direct contact with the person who makes the wine works well. Even if the situation remains fragile. Of course, sales is a profession and not everyone can do it. You have to drive thousands of kilometers every year, often being away from home. Vignobles Mouty will be holding around fifteen shows this year and the turnover achieved is vital for our cash flow.
With your words, we are far from the crisis and the thousands of hectares that will be uprooted in Gironde…
It’s a paradox. Of course, the situation is difficult and even dramatic for many producers, particularly on the issue of bulk transactions. But on the other hand, there are always markets and consumers. I see it at trade shows. We’re not going to stop drinking wine in France!
In more than forty years, we have built a large customer file, which must be maintained. Initially, when I chose this method of selling which took a lot of time and energy, some people thought I was an acrobat. I had my moments of discouragement. It was easier to wait for reviews’ scores and sell through trading… Today, no broker or trader comes to collect boxes from you. We also sell directly to wine merchants, restaurateurs and for export (20% of our turnover). Without this autonomy in marketing, we might already have gone out of business.
Producers from all over the country offer their wines at the Bordeaux Independent Winegrowers’ Show, which takes place every year in March at the Bordeaux-Lac exhibition center.
archives Claude Petit / SO
“This model where the individual customer is in direct contact with the person who makes the wine works well”
Don’t you feel a drop in purchasing power among customers?
Don’t underestimate people’s purchasing power! There are French people who have money and who can place orders worth hundreds of euros. Beyond the loyal customers you see regularly, behind your counter, you don’t know who you are dealing with and there are pleasant surprises. For example, when Madame loves and Monsieur absolutely wants to please her. Customers recommend you to friends, that’s how it works. Of course, the wine must be good, that’s the basis. I offer AOC Bordeaux at €7.50 per bottle, then a range around €14.50 and, even beyond that, Saint-Emilions and Pomerols for up to 50 euros. A chardonnay, produced outside the appellation, works well (18 euros). The panel is wide.
What would you like to say to winegrowers who are looking for reasons to hope?
Each situation is different, but one thing is certain: to seduce, you have to have things to tell, show that there is a face behind each bottle. For example, our family made its hundredth harvest at the estate in 2022, and I highlight this. It’s the same logic for wine tourism, a sector where our company has ongoing developments.
At the collective level, we would do better to put resources into recruiting consumers. I wouldn’t want there to be a grubbing plan every five years. We are not going to put cereals and hazelnut trees everywhere in Gironde. The great good thing about wine is that it is a valuable agricultural product. We can sell it five or ten times better than the basic bulk prices which govern the markets between winegrowers and merchants. Of course, a lot of commercial work must be done. Conversely, a liter of milk will remain a liter of milk, which is difficult for a producer to recover. Wine, an integral part of French gastronomy, has a future, including that produced in Gironde. We will see it at the Bordeaux show, which is a very nice event.
Meet in Bordeaux
The 25th Bordeaux Independent Winegrowers’ Show will be held from March 8 to 10 (from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday) at the Bordeaux-Lac exhibition center. Hundreds of winegrowers from all over the country are expected: Burgundy, Languedoc, Loire Valley, Rhône Valley and, of course, the South-West, including Bordeaux. The Independent Winegrowers of France (VIF) is a union structure which organizes around fifteen trade fairs per year, including two in Paris. In 2023, that of Bordeaux was a great success.
2024-03-04 19:55:07
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