The CIVB Wine Bar is two years old!

Wine Bar Bordeaux

The CIVB Wine Bar is two years old!
25 000 customers and more than 32 000 glasses of wine served in 2007…Inaugurated in June 2006, the CIVB’s (Bordeaux Wine Trade Council) new Wine Bar offers a unique tasting area in the heart of the city of Bordeaux. An exclusive concept to promote Bordeaux wines, created by the powerful wine trade organisation, CIVB and directly linked to its general management, the Wine Bar provides for the general public no less than four sommeliers and two wine consultants in its premises at XXX Cours du Juillet. Managed by Guillaume Gresta, the team is coordinated to propose an exceptional wine list and impeccable service. Everything here invites the visitor to take a sensorial voyage and linger on the contemplation of a grape variety, a vinification, an aroma or quite simply the pleasure of top-quality service in a stylish setting …

A promotion tool for the wine trade has rapidly become a convivial meeting place for the inhabitants of Bordeaux

Soft music, tables agreably spaced out, elegant fittings and guaranteed conviviality… Located in a listed building (like many of the edifices in this district of Bordeaux, it is the work of architect Victor Louis), with a seating area outside looking onto the street near the Opera House, the CIVB Wine Bar offers a pleasant setting that inhabitants of Bordeaux have rapidly adopted, whether they are students, professionals, retired people or visitors to the city. With such a wide spectrum, the establishment can welcome a total of one hundred customers. The interior, a neo-18th century style, is decorated discreetly with the theme of vines and wine. Seating and circular oak tables reminds visitors of barrels and round chairs bring to mind large pebbles. A wall a bottles illuminates the whole interior. Comfortably settled, visitors are encouraged to leaf through specialised magazines provided and fill in a questionnaire which will be used to pass on useful information to winegrowers and wine merchants who co-finance the CIVB. The objective assigned to this Wine Bar dedicated to tasting and relaxation is, therefore, clearly to offer excellent quality, and considerable means have certainly been invested!

A new wine list every month

Enable the general public to discover a vast range of local wines, inform customers and indicate vineyards to them, constitute a real link between wine shops and winegrowers: these were the CIVB’s aims when it created the Wine Bar, a unique concept for the wine trade. Selected every month using blind tasting methods, the technical team seek to propose wines for their typical characteristics and excellent value for money (prices range from 2 € to 8 € a glass; dry white wines or rosés are priced at around 3 € a glass). 30 Bordeaux wines are served in 3 types of glass: 15cl Mikasa for wines containing a majority of Merlot in their blend; Riedel for those that contain a predominance of Cabernet Sauvignon and Spielgau for white and sweet white wines. Each wine comes with an information sheet.

What wines sold best spontaneously in 2007? “Aperitif wines, with a Crémant de Bordeaux, a white Graves and a white Pessac-Léognan”, says Guillaume Gresta, the Wine Bar’s Manager and former employee of the CIVB’s Wine School. He coordinates the team and supervises the general running of this establishment.

A joint strategy based on wine tourism

The Wine Bar encourages numerous partnerships and regularly organises art exhibitions. During the popular wine festival, “Bordeaux Fête le Vin”, held from 26th to 29th June 2006, the Wine Bar exhibited the works of Swiss artist, Jacques Kissling, representing Saint-Petersburg. Various events are organised, such as ‘oysters-and-white wine’ during the month of June, or the “Week of Taste”, to take place in October 2008.
A partnership agreement with the Tourist Information Centre gives visitors the opportunity of buying a ticket costing 3 €, which will entitle them to taste a red Bordeaux Supérieur wine as well as a white wine, served in Spielgau glasses, when they purchase a guided tour of the city. Tourist guides working at a special wine tourism branch, now separate from the Tourist Information Centre, ensure a link for providing the general public with specific wine tourism details.

A European team for an international clientele

With an average age of 30, the staff of the Wine Bar team includes four European sommeliers: Antonio Spiga, from Italy, Martin Schotfield, from Great Britain, Pierre-Abel Maroun and Nicolas Davaine, from France. Two wine consultants complete the team: Marie-Charlotte Heidenreych and David Mathard (a qualified barman). The international complementarity of these sommeliers ensures the Wine Bar has the advantage of offering a relational rather than a commercial approach.

Pierre-Abel Maroun, Guillaume Gresta, Martin Schotfield

CIVB – Bar à vins
Monday to Saturday,
11am to 10pm (except public holidays)
3 cours du XXX juillet
33000 BORDEAUX

Tél. : 05 56 00 43 47

http://baravin.bordeaux.com/

E-mail

Antonio Spiga, former member of the Italian Sommelier Association, comes from Sardinia. Having completed a course at the CIVB Wine School, he decided to continue his career oriented towards his passion for Bordeaux wines, which he appreciates for their complexity and their fascinating terroirs. What is his ambition? “To truly understand the reality of Bordeaux wines and pass on this information, in a straightforward way, to customers, by using an approach that is not over-technical.” His British colleague, Martin Schotfield, arrived from Newcastle two years ago, having worked for 16 years as a Head Sommelier in London (for the Marco Pierre White chain, in a private club…). He likes the almost educational approach at the Wine Bar and the opportunity of sharing his knowledge with a clientele that states its great satisfaction.
Last, but certainly not least, 28-year-old Pierre-Abel Maroun, of French and Senegalese origin, who studied at the Talence Hotel School and has had an impressive career so far. Having worked at Pierre Gagnaire’s restaurant (3 Michelin stars, in the 8th district of Paris), then at ‘Les Cèdres’ in Granges-les-Beaumont in the Rhone Valley, he went to work for the ‘Relais & Châteaux’ establishment ‘Le Mas Candille’ in Mougins as Assistant Head Sommelier. After this, he came to the Bordeaux region where he worked for another ‘Relais & Château’ establishment in Margaux (4 Michelin stars), before joining the team of sommeliers at the Wine Bar, where he is in charge of the team. He concentrates his efforts primarily on the quality of service and the means for conveying a different image of Bordeaux wines. His leitmotif …? “Modestly share the reverie and pleasure the wine list brings to such a varied clientele, comprised in majority of ladies.” He sees himself as someone who recommends pleasure to his customers, whom he hopes will become regular visitors… “Inhabitants of Bordeaux, who represent 50% of our clientele, have adopted this concept, which didn’t exist previously in the city” he points out.
It is quite clear: emphasis is laid on the pleasure of tasting wine as much as on the democratisation of Bordeaux wines. Complementarity is the key word for this team for which nothing counts more than ensuring top-quality service for customers who want to venture into the labyrinth formed by the 12 000 winegrowers this region counts. The Wine Bar has a marvellous opportunity of welcoming a different type of clientele… young, feminine, foreign or simply inquisitive and keen to learn… This is further proved by the fact those who wish to remain absolutely tee-total are offered the possibility of perusing a list of waters from around the world. Mineral water from Wales or Norway: even the water list takes visitors on a voyage of discovery!
Christelle Faure-Némery