The staff at La Maison de Languedoc-Roussillon work pretty hard to promote wines from the region.
Hot on the heels of this week's "Award Winning Wines" tasting comes an email announcing an event for organic and biodynamic producers on December 10th 2010. I attended the synchronised worldwide tasting online event and there have been other events this year I now can't recall.
Does any other generic body spend so much time promoting wines? Does it result in an increase in sales? I don't know the answers to these questions but I sincerely hope sales reflect the promotional work.
Does any other generic body spend so much time promoting wines? Does it result in an increase in sales? I don't know the answers to these questions but I sincerely hope sales reflect the promotional work.
Wines from the Sud de France strike me as being excellent value for money. Whether it is the Gerard Betrand 2008 Corbieres from Marks and Spencer recommended in Thursday's The Times by Tim Atkin, the medal winning Domaine de Cebene Les Bancels (part of the Outsiders - rocking the Languedoc wine scene group on Facebook) or the range from Chateau d'Angles, I'm always impressed. And I especially enjoy the whites from the region including some unusual but flavoursome grape varieties. I suspect however that the shelves in the supermarkets full of Sud de France wines get overlooked in favour of the heavily promoted and discounted Aussie wines.
There was a time when we all drank French wines perhaps because they reminded us of our holidays driving through France to a gite or campsite. People travel further afield now and their expectations have broadened as has their desire to try something "different". What is a slight barrier when it comes to promoting wines from the region is the plethora of names on the label - Corbieres, Vin de pay d'Oc, Cotes du Roussillon etc, etc. It really is easier for a consumer to head for an Aussie Shiraz or an Italian pinot grigio. However the Sud de France banner really helps to unite all the disparate regions and names and when I see it I know I'm generally getting good value quality wines.
I'll keep supporting their wines and encouraging others to also whilst the quality/price point is so good.
3 comments:
Coincidentally, the next session of Vinocamp, a round table session of wine/internet industry folk, will be held in Montpellier in March 2011. (www.vinocamp.fr)
As the Languedoc is leading the french regions in promoting themselves, and certainly online ... this seemed to be a natural choice for the 3rd/4th? Vinocamp. I am interested to see the number of attendees for this one!
Cheers!
Hi Colin, thanks for your support for the Sud de France brand and the work of the Maison in London. I look forward to seeing you at the Outsiders tasting next week.
@Ceci Sipper: I shall look forward to meeting you in Montpellier, if you're coming?
Wine trade members planning on attending Vinisud 2012 might like to know that the Languedoc Outsiders will be presenting a tasting with a twist (leave your preconceived notions at home) at Vinisud 2012, on Monday February 20th (4pm) and Tuesday 21st (10am) in the dedicated web 2.0 space at this Montpellier trade show. More details on our website http://languedoc-outsiders.com/
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