3.4 - 3.5: Merchants and Co-Operatives

Question 1

What are micro-négociants? Name a region where this has become prominent.

Answer 1

• merchants who specialise in small-production wines, usually from individual vineyards, that often achieve super-premium prices
• some work closely with particular growers
• others wait to buy grapes on the spot market (scope best-quality fruit)
• Burgundy

Question 2

Name a famous grower-merchant in the Rhône Valley. What types of wines do they produce?

Answer 2

Guigal

• some of the Rhône’s most expensive wines (single-vineyard Côte-Rôtie
• village wines (Crozes-Hermitage, Gigondas)
• generic Côtes du Rhône from bought-in grapes

Question 3

What might grower-merchants do to differentiate between wines from the different parts of the range? Give an example of a grower-merchant who does this.

Answer 3

Use different names for wines from own grapes vs. wines from purchase grapes.

• Domaine Dujac in Burgundy (use own name for own grapes)
• Dujac Père et Fils (used for purchased grapes)

Question 4

Give examples of how merchants operate differently from region to region.

Answer 4

• Burgundy: much more involved in the production of wine

- Bordeaux: tend to deal more in wine that has already been made (whether in bulk or already bottled)

Question 5

What types of wines are good for the en primeur system?

Answer 5

• wines that benefit from a period of maturation in barrel (usually 18 months or more)
• wines prized by investors, such as Burgundy, Rhône, so called ‘Super Tuscans’ and Vintage Port.

Question 6

What are the main benefits of being part of a co-operative?

Answer 6

• members pool their financial resources, can afford more expensive winemaking equipment and expertise that they could not afford if they were working individually
• access to expert viticultural and winemaking services and advice as well as marketing, packaging and sales services
• marketing the wines collectively ca be more efficient and effective

Question 7

Give 2 examples of successful co-operatives.

Answer 7

1. Plaimont in south-west France

2. Badischer Winzerkeller in southern Germany

Question 8

What types of wines can co-operatives make?

Answer 8

• large volumes of entry-level wine

- own-label wines ( La Chablisienne in Chablis, Mont Tauch in Fitou)

Question 9

How have co-operatives come to increase quality of the wines produced?

Answer 9

• pay growers based on the quality of the fruit
• do not pay all their profits back to members, instead investing in the latest technology, research and effective marketing and labelling

Question 10

What is the typical size of a co-operative?

Answer 10

• range in size from small facilities serving a single town or a village to huge operations that rank among the largest wine companies in the world