France Bordeaux
Bordeaux Wine Trade Council (CIVB)
“We want to establish closer contacts with the restaurant sector country by country. By this means, customers of all nationalities can discover our wines with food. Training plays a leading role in this approach with professionals. In France, we have started working with numerous wholesalers who are one of the key links with restaurant owners and sommeliers. We must inform them about changes and innovations in our winegrowing area and make them reconsider the Bordeaux brand. As for information about wines, the SmartBordeaux application has increased its services since September to satisfy demands from consumers and professionals concerning the range of Bordeaux wines. We have improved the application; its functionality and the quality of its listings from ‘producers and prescribers’ databases. Another application available is Bordeaux Wine Trip, which was presented during the popular wine festival, Bordeaux Fête le Vin…. Many other communication and training activities, as well as the development of Wine Bars just like the CIVB Wine Bar in Bordeaux will be organised throughout the world as of 2013” François Jumeau explains.
Mentioning training, we turn to the Bordeaux Wine School, managed for the past 7 years by Annick Martinez and her team. The figures speak for themselves: in 2011, the school welcomed more than 50000 people; this figure represents individuals (50%) on the one hand and professionals and students on the other, in France and abroad. An increase of 13% compared with 2010. “Our network of 213 accredited wine tutors and 33 schools in various countries is at a stage of full development. Hotel schools are a priority and a competition, Cocktails by Bordeaux, for future barmen, organised in collaboration with the French Ministry for Education, was launched at the last event of Bordeaux Fête le Vin. An excellent success for these 4 busy days at the pavilion of the CIVB’s Wine School with an array of workshops, a sensorial perusal and an educational route visited by more than 12000 people, which is 3 times more than at the previous event! The ‘Educational Bordeaux Route’, followed by stands for the various appellations each resumed their special features and the own individual DNA within the world of Bordeaux wine. They were a great success”, Annick tells us.
A perusal for the senses completed by workshops for “discovering”, “tasting” and “blending”, pairing food and wine presented by well-known chefs (Grégory Cuilleron, Top Chef; François Adamski, Michelin-starred chef and Bérangère Igou-Lloret, blogger) and mixology. Not to mention the launch of the Bordeaux Wine School’s Discovery Set (available at Mollat Bookshop and the Bordeaux Tourist Information Centre), talked about on Europe 1 radio and during Michel Drucker’s television show “Faîtes entrer l’invité”, broadcast live from the CIVB pavilion, which reached an audience of 1.2 million people.
Training is one of the key ways of promoting Bordeaux wines. ISO 9001 certification, recently obtained, brings international recognition to the Bordeaux Wine School’s quality management system. Issued by LQRA (Lloyds Register Quality Assurance), world leader in this field, it aims to guarantee a continually improved high standard of quality and concerns two elements: the accreditation of French and foreign wine tutors and the coordination of training courses from the Wine School’s catalogue.
The Wine School and Wine Bar, at the heart of the CIVB in Bordeaux, combine an educational and gourmet approach… The “Mini-workshop” offers tasting with explanations given by the sommelier and documents presented to wine enthusiasts.
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