Rebranding French wine
Any Old Vin
The news that France’s appellation system may soon be homogenised into globally recognised brands, according to a French wine official confirms that dumbing down really knows no depths.
Valérie Pajotin, director of Anivin de France, said last week that French wine will end up ‘like Coca-Cola’ with many producers opting out of appellation systems in favour of adopting a generic ‘Vins de France’ brand.
La Perfidie de Vins de France.
Anivin is the trade body responsible for promoting the new Vins de France category, which allows French producers and brand owners to blend wines across different regions to produce wines consistent in quality and style.
Blasphemy!! Why shouldn’t France retain and build on its reputation for producing fine wines rather than viewing wine as alcoholic grape juice driven to the market on the back of focus groups and questionable surveys. When you reach this paltry level of ambition you might as well totally abandon any pretence of regionality and nationhood. The rationale underpinning the creation of Vins de France withers under scrutiny. Presumably, the idea is to create a attachment to brand “France”, but this runs counter to that which has characterised the French wine trade (I hesitate to use the word “industry”) namely its very distinctiveness and celebration of regional identity. Suppose one were to apply this to cheese – imagine the reaction, not only in France, but also internationally, to the idea that cheese might be some homogeneous product. In this context France itself becomes a meaningless concept as far as quality is concened. I would have less problem if winemakers blended grapes from different countries if that action produces a more consistent style and quality.
The wines are apparently designed to appeal to younger consumers at lower price levels, marketed by their grape variety, not origin.
Anivin’s ideas are simplistic rather than simple. This is the Coca-Cola mentality where brand packaging is considered more important than taste, and I believe it will ultimately devalue the image of French wine in the world. This is not the counsel of conservatism; it’s just simply not cool or clever to drink cheap, branded wine, nor is it correct to assume that young people are not interested in wine and will not, in the future, develop a passion for the subject.
And this is the cruncher…
‘Assembling wines in this way ensures a consistency of quality which will retain consumer loyalty by offering a constant taste from 1 January to 31 December’, said Pajotin.
The talk of assembling wines to create an understandable style is the charter of least resistance, of nondescriptness par (pas de) excellence. Retaining consumer loyalty by downgrading expectations shows a lack of ambition and imagination. If you set the bar low you will never jump high; you will make lowest common denominator wines.
The beauty of AOC and vin de pays is that despite their imperfections they are based on quality, tradition and terroir. Those who preferred to work outside the limits (whatever that entailed) would happily put vin de table on their bottles. France is not and never has been a single homogenous unit. Its genius resides in variety, in growers respecting or challenging the status. Mass produced varietal brands draw attention away from the real stories, the people behind the wines, the villages and vineyards where the grapes come from. To say that wine is like coca cola is not only to rob it of its magic, but also its meaning.
Pajotin observes: ‘France is one of largest wine producers in the world and the maker of the most famous wines in the world, yet many wine drinkers in France don’t know grape varieties’.
The problem, one suspects, is that fewer French people are drinking wine, preferring spirits and beer. The smart approach to making wine popular again is to trumpet its qualities (deliciousness, ability to pair with food, diverse styles, artisan product) rather than default to brand recognition.