Posts tagged: wine

Marketing Languedoc wine to young people – Are Millenials drinking fine wine?

I’m starting to see some of the press coverage of this year’s Ambassador Tour, a classy series of Languedoc wine tastings held in the US each year.  The first article I’ve seen, despite its positive outlook on the tasting and Languedoc’s future, made me pause with a claim that AOC Languedoc is specifically bucking the trend to market toward twenty-somethings.  The article goes on to claim that the classification is favoring 30- to 45-year-olds, “the youngest demographic group of wine drinkers identified for the controlled origin wines”

pull quote languedoc wine ambassador tour

This part leaves me a little perplexed.  I’m glad we’re targeting 30 somethings which is already a young demographic compared to wine consumption statistics from the 90’s.  But why stop there?  And why purposefully spread a message that sort of sounds like “our wine is not really meant for people who are just starting”?

Remember when Jay Z got ridiculously mad that Cristal’s producers didn’t fully embrace the rap community’s affinity for their Champagne?  Comments to the press were taken a bit out of context, and customers got very upset.  The director of the company that produces Cristal hadn’t said anything explicitly negative, and he still caused a commotion.  I think the above article voices a potentially much more direct and damaging point of view that millenials aren’t worth our time.

So let me take the counterpoint: Millenials are totally worth it.  Their heads generally haven’t been filled with a priori biases.

I regularly meet people my age who want to drink wine that you can’t find at the supermarket.  And I want to insist that any PR folks who read this blog (preaching to the choir?), be careful about spreading this kind of copy.  It sort of sounds like we’re wine snobs who don’t serve young adults until they’ve matured a bit.

And I don’t mean to pick on this article too much.  It’s very nice and I’m glad it puts the new AOC Languedoc initiatives in a positive light!  But I think very young peope who drink wine can sometimes feel intimidated and unwelcomed.  And this sort of business philosophy appearing in trade publications like “The Tasting Panel” can sometimes reinforce these unspoken age norms.

Am I over-reacting?   Am I doing more harm than good by putting this small trade magazine article in the light of day?  Or do you agree with me on some level?  Let me know!  I am very proud to have readers of all ages.  Some too young to drink. Some who don’t let it stop them. ;D  And some who can proudly claim they’ve been drinking since before I was born.  So let me know if you think the wine business is age-ist.  Or if I’m reading a little too much into this stuff.

Eggenfelden Market in Carcassonne – Place des Halles

I just attended the Eggenfelden Market (Google Map of Eggenfelden) in Carcassonne.  It’s a new Saturday market positioned in between the markets in the Place Carnot and the permanent shops in Les Halles.  This new market in Eggenfelden is a Farmer’s Market where we are all producers.  So shop direct!

Interesting notes include a dairy farmer who sells raw milk direct.  It’s delicious, and I was just talking to somebody about how you never have opportunities to buy milk direct even though you see dairy cows everywhere.  Well now you can!  Also some delicious meats and breads and wines and EVERYTHING.

I don’t know why these youtube videos keep cutting out short of the end, but whatever. The point is come to the market if you’re in the area. And if you’re not in the area, check out your local markets where ever you may be. Shop direct and have fun!

Thanks to the folks who did come out to market yesterday!

And happy Mother’s Day if you live in France and are a mom!

PS – people keep asking why it’s called Eggenfelden. That doesn’t sound very French. It’s Carcassonne’s sister city in Germany! We named the market after them.

Changer l’Aude en Vin – Avril 26 2010 à Carcassonne

I just got my invite to this year’s Changer l’Aude en Vin (there is a pun here with the French phrase for turning water into wine). I first saw the flier in Jean Baptiste and Charlotte Sénat’s winery and it’s unsurprising that they’re at the heart of this gathering. Fifteen winemakers are gathering in the Cité de Carcassonne for a cool grassroots tasting. At least I’m guessing it’ll be a little more DIY than your average wine salon. The flyers are printed like punk posters and Sénat has a rebellious vibe. I look forward to seeing what happens.

And if 15 hand-picked Aude winemakers isn’t enough to draw you to the event, the pot has been sweetened this year. They’ve invited 5 organic producers from the Marne to show off some of their Chamagnes. Sénat never misses a pun and redubs the event “Changer l’Aube en Vin”. I’m not really sure why they added Champagne this year, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just for the pun. :D

So a Love That Languedoc rarity, we’ll be talking champagne.

On a related note, I really wish I had been able to attend the Treloar art expo opening a couple weeks back. Hopefully a few of my readers had a chance to swing by the event and taste some wine and see some art. I like all the winemaker initiatives going on in the region. Gives me a lot of hope!

Je viens de recevoir mon invitation “Changer l’Aude en Vin 2010″,  un rassemblement sur la Cité de Carcassonne de 15 vignerons Audois, tous certifiés ou en conversion vers l’Agricutlure Biologique. Une réunion qui devrait attirer beaucoup d’attention.

Cela fait du bien de voir des efforts comme celui-ci initiés et organisés pars les vignerons. Entre “Changer l’Aude en Vin”, l’exposition d’art organisée par le Domaine Treloar plus tôt dans l’année, et d’autres évènements, j’ai de grands espoirs pour les vignerons du Languedoc Roussillon.


Participating producers from Aude:

Domaine l’Arbousier
AOC Corbières

Clos de l’Anhel
AOC Corbières

Domaine Benjamin Taillandier
AOC Minervois

Mas des Caprices
AOC Fitou

Domaine de Cazaban
AOC Cabardès

Domaine Les Enfants Sauvages (is this in Aude?)
VDP Cotes Catalanes

Domaine Ledogar
AOC Corbières

Domaine Les Hautes Terres
AOC Limoux

Domaine Hegarty Chamans
AOC Minervois

Domaine Jean Baptiste Sénat
AOC Minervois

Vignoble du Loup Blanc
AOC Minervois

Domaine Maxime Magnon
AOC Corbières

Le Mas de Mon Père
AOC Malpère

Chateau Pech Redon
AOC La Clape

Domaine Remi Jalliet
AOC Corbières

Invited producers from Marne:

Champagne Benoit Lahaye
Champagne David Léclapart
Champagne Frison de Marne
Champagne Pierre Gerbais
Champagne Vouette-et-Sorbée

Toques et Clochers Gala with Massimiliano Alajmo – Love That Languedoc Episode 58

This is part of the continued coverage of Toques et Clochers, the Sieur d’Arques auction in Limoux that raises funds to rennovate local churches each year. Thanks to Sud de France Export for inviting me to the event and even getting me a seat at the super exclusive gala dinner. Video at the bottom of the page!

The even lasts a few days. On Saturday, the town whose churchtower is being redone becomes an open air festival. This year, sleepy mountain town Couiza welcomed some 50,000+ visitors through the winding village roads to enjoy several thousand liters of Chardonnay. It’s really surreal to see these little villages roped off (traffic is rerouted to go around the village and you can only access it by buses from other neighboring towns) and flooded by sooo many festive spirits.

couiza parade

It’s the kind of event that defies logic. And the fact that it’s organized in a different village each year means they have to redo all the logistics from scratch. Nothing is the same year to year. A very impressive event on a scale that independent producers like me could never accomplish even if united.

toques et clochers auction hallBut the moment that defines the event is the auction on Sunday where bidders will raise their paddles and buy up limited runs of wine in barrel. There’s a big tasting so that everybody can pick their favorite barrels of wine for the vintage. Then there’s a long auction where 80 lots are sold and people bid on wine. Some are there just to support the event and the rennovation. Others are shrewdly trying to grab the best deals because there are some real pearls that you can uncover in the tasting. So the most devoted tasters who spend all morning researching will have an opportunity to buy barrels that the casual visitors didn’t discover. The average barrel price was 4,500 Euro or so this year. The highest bid was about 6,400 Euro, as I recall.

And then we celebrate with a massive dinner. As the French are wont to do.

This video is a presentation of the dishes, the wine pairings, and a musical accompaniment for each course. Nice. In English and French since this is a very International crowd. Only a few hundred people get to attend the gala and it’s a pleasure to bring you behind closed doors to see all the yummy treats and wines and dancing clowns(?!) that bring this event to a close so delightfully.

toques et clochers gala clowns

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