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Competition for French wines is tough.
Enter a wine shop, a supermarket or a restaurant in a country where France has less than 30% market share and you will realize how fragmented and diluted the French offering is.
Consumers confuse appellations, brands and varietals and there is no clear message.
Currently, there are two groups of countries where French wines play a dominant role: French speaking countries like France itself, Quebec, Belgium or West Africa, and the emerging countries.
The success of the French wines in the first group is clearly led by the moment of consumption: lunch or dinner.
In the second group, the French image, synonym to luxury and elegance, still plays a major role.
In anyway, in those two groups, wine has not been transformed in a commodity product yet and still has a very large cultural and subjective aspect.
In mature markets where France is not a key-player, the development of wine consumption is organized by Varietals offered by mass brands, who have a clear idea of who their consumers are and how their wines must be designed in taste to please them, not necessarily for food pairing.
Some would even simplify and say that new world producers talk about segmentation, positioning and promotions and that the French answer by terroir, appellation and tradition.
If it is true that the French cannot only count on the prestige of its few luxury labels, it is also true that French wines are food friendlier thanks to lower alcohol, lower sugar and more acidity and tannins.
With our 250 growers in France, Barton & Guestier is the unique brand offering quality wines from the main French wine growing regions. This is a unique occasion to educate the consumer about wines and make French wine easy to understand. With the extraordinary development of Media programs dedicated to food, we, at B&G have chosen to convey our message by positioning Barton & Guestier Appellation wines as the benchmark for food and wine pairing.
France has led the world to drink wine and we, at B&G, as the oldest wine house in Bordeaux, have a mission: guide our consumer on how to enjoy our wine even more, and experience the French Art of Living. The "Be my Guest" food and wine pairing program is in the make. More news about that in 2013.
Happy Holidays to all,
Philippe MARION
Sales & Marketing Director
Newsletter contact: Petra.Frebault@barton-guestier.com |
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