Wine of KingsEach winemaker found an importer

Difficult in these times of crisis to exist when there is a small wine-growing appellation in a somewhat saturated French market. For the involvement of the wines of Cahors, Salvation must come from the export. In particular of the United States, to which a commercial offensive over three years has been defined, with a budget of EUR 1.3 million 50 funded by Europe. But how to attack a market where it has no notoriety, not even a vague image "Cahors, this does mean nothing across the Atlantic." "However, the malbec - the characteristic grape of this appellation-, means much because it is also the grape variety of Argentine, popular wines in the United States," noted Jeremy Arnaud, marketing director of the interprofessional Union of wines of Cahors (UIVC), party to the conquest of the West by steps.

A year ago, the UIVC visited Argentina to see how operated the potential competitor. Then, after created a bottle easily identifiable by its form and its name, "Cahors malbec" engraved in the glass, the inter-branch chose to present its products at the fair Vinexpo in the space reserved for the wines of the Southwest, but in the international section, to the... Argentina stand. The ideal to be spotted by the Americans, the United States being the largest world importer of malbec.

A wine perceived as exotic

Sharp marketing studies were conducted to identify the sensitivity of consumers across the Atlantic. "We went much further than it does at the roundtables normal consumers, using a former psychoanalyst specialized in wine." "He has worked on the concepts of"transplant"and"rejection"," notes Jeremy Arnaud. The respondents have expressed their spontaneous reactions, appeals to the imagination, by association of ideas. The UIVC drew a Toolbox, reasoning in "terroirs of consumption" and not production.

This allowed to identify the name under which market the wine and the most anticipated segment: no products of entry to the United States where the cahors is perceived as "exotic" (therefore synonymous with holidays), linked to the night (romantic), and in any case as a daily wine. French wine producers therefore concentrated on the middle and high-end, 15 to 20 euros the bottle. The specific codes have been defined: the "ultimate", called in France "Black wine", will be named there "Cahors black." "Realized us that black is already associated with the France, with well known pinot noir", says Jeremy Arnaud. The names of the fields have also been put forward to better tell a story.

A Cahors'Tour, moreover, was held in Boston, Chicago and Washington for 30 growers representing 40 of the wines of the appellation. They presented their wines and those of their colleagues. In the program, operations of public relations with tastings of wine and French buffet, with each time a hundred guests prescribers, sommelier to television stars.

Wine of Kings

Each winemaker found an importer. In a US market where exports of French wines have fallen 25 in value since the beginning of the year, the cahors is, with the wines of Provence, the only name in advance. Next step: a downloadable clip since the label of the cahors (via a hidden in the logo, barcode scanner with his mobile phone camera) and a novel about the wine black to feed the imagination.

A needed offensive. After having elapsed 240.000 hectolitres per year in the 1990s, the overall sales of Cahors were fallen to 170,000 recently, lack of cohesion within the inter-branch having contributed to the decline. The link between growers is now maintained via a blog and a newsletter. Jeremy Arnaud, he hopes the cahors reconnect with the time where he had been a sacred "wine of Kings". In the meantime, he just get the exclusivity of six "VIP Lounges" from Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport high range of 30 international companies, where the cahors will be only referenced red wine reserved for passengers.