The World Argentina
ESC'prit d'Aventure 2010 is a team that gathers
11 students in 1st and 2nd year, members of an association of the ESC Dijon [School of Business],
a school that proposes a MSc Wine Business,
in the heart of one of world's most famous viticultural regions. Like every year the association has organized a road trip in a foreign country to realize a video report lying within one of the themes in sustainable development: for this 2nd edition, their journey led them to Argentina in the region of Mendoza.
Inspired by Antoine De Maximy's concept
(the TV program “J’irai dormir chez vous” on France 5 channel), the students paced up and down the cities and bodegas of the region of Mendoza, with their video camera and rucksack, to get in contact with the locals.
This trip has been the object of a none neglectable work of preparation, organization and coordination during their academic year. They could enjoy the shrewd help of teachers specialized in the wine world, like
Claude Chapuis or
Joëlle Brouard, through lectures and private lessons.
On the spot, thanks to their boundless curiosity and spontaneity, the team managed to get interviews and precious accounts, their aim always being to produce a dynamic, teaching and pleasant report, while combining adventure and journalism.
Why Argentina
and the region of Mendoza?
The 2010 ESC’prit d’Aventure road trip is in line with the theme
“The viticultural world and its link with sustainable development”.
The students started with the undeniable statement that the wines of the
“New World” take growing importance on the international scene. Today speaking about oenology without evoking the existence of those wines is unconceivable.
They then observed that the Argentinian economic system relies for a major part on the production and distribution of wine. The viticultural tradition in Argentina is very ancient and dates from the foundation of the country, during the 19th century, with the massive arrival of immigrants coming from Europe. Besides it has to be noticed that the European influences are striking and that there are numerous similarities when speaking about production processes, varietals, distribution and wine consumption in Argentina.
Today Argentina works its way up to the 5th place in the world as a wine producing country. But the biggest part of the volume is consumed locally. Only 5% is exported. The Argentinian wines are still not known enough in the world, but are taking growing fame.
At last, the region of Mendoza contributes for 70% to the country's production and offers numerous wines often little-known but of great quality.
For all these reasons the team ESC’prit d’Aventure 2010 focused on this region and adopted the following issue: within the framework of this evolution, which place is given to sustainable development?
A complete survey
With this question in mind and a full log book, the team thus left from May 4th to 24th, 2010. Three weeks to realize a complete survey, filming and interviewing managers of bodegas and regional institutes (the Irrigation Department of Mendoza, the insitute Bodegas de Argentina...), to broach technical subjects as well as environmental and social aspects of the viticultural industry.
Among the treated themes, they dealt with the notion of water ressource management -as in this semidesert area, irrigation is compulsory-, the oenotourism or the promotion of Mendoza wines through the world. They deepened the concepts of Fair Trade and Organic Farming.
By the way, the team targets to construct an exceptional partnership with the
Bodega Furlotti which makes a wine following a
‘Fair Trade’ labelled process. The association will promote its wines in France through numerous tastings and actions to make people aware of this label. Through this work, they wish to demonstrate that a
‘Fair Trade’ wine can fully satisfy traditional wine connoisseurs' papillae.
The group is now finishing its project which film editing is entrusted to an audiovisual production company. Needless to say that the association will have taken up the challenge when the film will be proudly presented to the whole School of Business, and maybe, if fate decrees so, to a larger public on the big screen.
Gaspard Padet et Hugo Caffarel
The team EA2010 involved (from left to right) :
1st row: Hugo Caffarel (President), Maxime Roy,
Sarah Coppe, Gaspard Padet, Laura Degryse
2nd row: Lila Corre, Pauline Blanc, Aurélie Kubik, Florian Bouteiller
3rd row: Nastasia Millet, Ali Benada
Contact : hugo.caffarel@escdijon.eu 
