François Chidaine: August 2008 at La Cave Insolite, Montlouis
In between late minute Christmas shopping I have managed to speak to François Audebert (Bourgueil) and to François Chidaine about Interloire's AGM in Nantes on Tuesday. Neither conversation was exactly festive – instead depressing with a palpable sense of the crisis and a growing schism between producers and the négoce. Of course having spoken to just two producers their views may not be fully representative but I suspect that their views would be echoed by a substantial number of Loire producers.
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Over the next few days I hope to add views from more producers and also from the négoce. I also, of course, welcome comments.)François AudebertI started by asking François what had happened at the AGM.
François A: Not a great deal. It was accepted with regret that Bourgueil would leaving Interloire at the end of 2010. The atmosphere are meeting was all rather morose. The négoce pushed through the single rate of cotisation (subscription) to Interloire, which will be 4€ per hectolitre. Previously there had been 24 different levels with appellations fixing the amount. 24 was clearly too much but I would have preferred three different levels. Jim: Do you think there will be a chance a reaching an accommodation during 2010 that will allow Bourgueil to remain within Interloire?
François A: I think it will very difficult. There appears to be incomprehension of our position and concerns by the négoce and I'm not sure that it is possible to have meaningful discussions anymore. Bourgueil has voted to increase its
cotisation by adding 3.50€ to the current rate of 1.70€ a hectolitre – a total of 5.20€. This increase will be used for our public relations activities. A number of other appellations, such as Chinon and Vouvray, have voted an increase to their
cotisations with the extra going to the syndicat.
We then discussed the proposal to make the Salon des Vins de Loire biannual, which is a consequence of reducing Interloire's budget for the Salon. Although the Salon is run by Expo-Park, Angers, Interloire provides an important part of the budget.
François A: The Salon is very important for the producers. The proposal to reduce the budget and hold the Salon every two years is a direct attack by the
négoce on us. The Salon is crucial for us both to meet international buyers but also people from our home market – wholesalers, agents, cavistes, restaurateurs etc. Many people come to the Salon to taste the latest vintage, so it needs to be held every year – not every two years.
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François Chidaine
We talked about the AGM but also about the conflict between the producers and the négociants.
Francois C: Our level of cotisation has been cut from 5.5€ per hectolitre down to 4€. The négociants do not believe in promoting appellations. They just want to promote La Loire and to concentrate on selling low priced wine. Because of much of the former Loire négociants have been bought up by the big groups, there is no longer competition. The négociants are concerned with their margins. This means that producers supplying the négoce cannot survive commercially and some are now giving up.
Producers in Touraine do not agree with this approach – our objectives are not the same. We are in a different position in Touraine as we are not bound to the négociants as in the case for producers in Anjou and in Muscadet. Producers in Touraine are very attached to their appellations. Increasingly we will see funds from vignerons being transferred to their syndicats. The relationship between the producers and the négoce is broken.
Jim: Do you think that the relationship can be repaired?
François C: We will see but things may well have gone too far – there is a lot of bitterness. It is very unfortunate because in the current crisis we should all be working together. But for the producers to do nothing in the current situation is not an option. We have to react – we have to save viticulture for the next generation.
(NB: Other views to come.)
