| Jumpin' Jack Flash... but does Jagger drink Condrieu? |
Every wine region in entertainment mode has its peculiar
character. In the Medoc they go for elaborate marquees and black tie dinners,
in Burgundy, confrerie singing and heart-stopping gastronomic marathons for 600
guests. In the Rhône, there’s music, whether rock, rockabilly, or a local brass
ensemble parping away in the background. Meininger’s even caught a particularly
good jazz combo in a dive bar in Avignon. Gangloff’s band, The Grapeful Dead,
consists of Paul Ansellem of Côte-Rôtie’s Dme Georges Vernay, Pierre-Jean Villa
of the eponymous northern Rhône domaine, and Gangloff himself on vocals. They
played in Ampuis, to a merry crowd quaffing the finest northern Rhônes from
magnum.
The Découvertes en Vallée de Rhône started in 2001, inspired
by the Grands Jours de Bourgogne tasting that covers that interesting stretch
of land from Chablis to Macon. Now in its
eighth edition, it takes in the 70,000ha of Rhône valley vineyards and
some 5,500 wine companies, from producers to negociants. This year there 620
exhibitors, and nine separate trade fairs, with 2,175 visitors from 31
countries.
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| The Palais des Papes: dramatic but draughty |
The organisational power behind the four days of the event
is Inter Rhône, which must – in this particular journalist’s view – be one of
the most proactive and efficient trade organisations in France. Apart from the
knowledgeable and helpful staff, in every centre, from Ampuis to Avignon, there
was a cache of useful literature. One particular booklet, the Encyclopedia of Rhône
Valley Wines, gives a comprehensive overview of the entire AOC and its 171
communes. It is needed: there is nothing more complicated than the hierarchy of
a French AOC and its sub-appellations. With an influx of emerging wine-buying
regions like mainland China, absolute clarity is vitally important, especially
as the Chinese are looking beyond the top, icon crus to more affordable wines.
A newly-fledged junior sommelier from Guangzhou may need all the help he or she
can get when trying to explain the difference between Vallée du Rhône, Village
and Cru.
That said, however, Découvertes is still essentially a
parochial event. Seventy-two per cent of visitors are French, with a smattering
of Americans (4 per cent) and Asians (about 1 per cent). There are no signs
that this demographic is changing, despite the fact that the Rhône’s Chinese
market is growing. Overall exports for Rhône Valley wines fell by some five per
cent in 2014, but in China there was notable growth for appellations such as
Costières de Nîmes and Gigondas. “Rhône is very important for us,” Xi Chen of
Bordeaux-based wine merchant Maison Bordelaise told Meininger’s, adding that he
had come to Découvertes with a groups of Chinese sommeliers “for enjoyment, not
work.”
In his introduction to the Découvertes, Michel Chapoutier, the president of Inter Rhône, says one of its major purposes is to “profoundly experience the Rhône Valley.” It
achieves this in two ways. First, and most obvious, is the fact that there is
no better way of understanding a wine region than to stand in its vineyards.
Delegates, therefore, were taken to the top of Hermitage hill, and given a 360°
explanation of the wine region shimmering in bright spring sunshine around them.
| Shimmering in the sun...on Hermitage hill |
Second, and most important, the tastings themselves. From
town sports centres to the magnificent (and draughty) Palais des Papes in
Avignon, every available public space was taken over for tastings. One
important aspect of these events was their democratic organisation: every
producer, whether Jaboulet, Chapoutier or the smallest vigneron-récoltant, was allotted the same space in which to show
their wines. “It’s my socialist disposition,” Chapoutier told Meininger’s. “We’re not here to say who is the biggest,
but to show the range and quality of all producers.” This distinguishes the Découvertes from the
massive trade fairs that have come to dominate the wine landscape – this year,
in the space of a few weeks, producers have to decide between Prowein, VinItaly
and Vinexpo – which are profoundly undemocratic in the sense that the biggest
companies can afford the most elaborate stands, while the smallest may get
overlooked.
“This is much easier than Vinexpo,” vigneron Lionel Faury of
St Joseph said, “because it’s specialised. Vinexpo is the market for big
volumes and big business, but here you can talk about terroir – it’s for people
who are interested in the Rhône.” At a cost of €500 a day for a stand, it’s not
that much cheaper than an international fair, but the rewards are potentially
greater.
| Hermitage terraces...Jaboulet? |
From north to south, producers volunteered the same
opinions: Découvertes is valuable because it's localised and specialised, and
it’s an excellent way of doing business. “My goal was to find a Danish
importer,” said Stephane Montez of Dme du Monteillet in Condrieu, “and the first guy to come by this morning was from
Denmark. I have a Swedish importer, so now I just need Finland and Norway.”
Another advantage of the localised format was the
opportunity to concentrate on a vintage. The Rhône – in general – escaped the
terrible growing conditions the rest of France endured in 2013. Thousands of
hectares of Grenache were lost to coullure in the south, but in the north a
combination of a cold and wet spring and summer and fine September and October
produced wines that are lighter and fresher than usual. But for many consumers
and buyers, 2013 in France is a vintage to be treated with caution, so
producers welcomed the chance to allow the vintage to show itself. “The most
important is 2013,” Joël Durand of Domaine Eric & Joël Durand told Meininger’s.
“It’s a very particular vintage, there was bad weather, we harvested two weeks
late – it was different. It’s useful to get people to taste it, especially in
St Joseph which is suffering from the reputation of the rest of France.”
Découvertes is not all business, though: the many halls and
tasting rooms buzzed with conversation and gossip. Many producers told
Meininger’s they were there simply to meet existing customers and generally
catch up on news. One salient reason for this is the extremely low 2013
harvest. “Our only problem is that we have no wine to sell,” Alain Graillot of
Crozes-Hermitage said. “We’re just here to meet a few customers that we know,
but not develop new business.”
The 2000-plus journalists, wine merchants and other wine
professionals that attend the tastings have the same attitude. Helen Savage, a
UK wine writer and educator and Rhône expert, told Meininger’s she has come
several times because “it is so valuable for keeping up to date with what’s
going on”. Wine merchants were much in evidence: Georges Barbier of the
eponymous London merchant has been coming since the beginning and finds the
present set up a great improvement, he said. “All the tastings used to be in
cellars and there were long queues.” The Barbier family’s prime reason to be
there was to “find something new”, his daughter Victoria said, “and we’ve
discovered Dme Monteillet already. It’s a great event. We’re here for three
days and we’ve found two new wines. It’s got my seal of approval.”
Alongside the tastings was a comprehensive programme of
masterclasses and seminars. If the tastings were an unqualified success, the
academic side of Découvertes was less so. It’s a criticism frequently directed
at such events – it sometimes seems as if masterclasses and seminars are tacked
on in order to give the event gravitas and to attract celebrity commentators.
While certain events were well organised and stimulating, others had the
feeling of being hastily-prepared. This may have been a result of the sheer comprehensivity
of the programme – the tiny underground cabaret club Rouge Gorge in Avignon,
for example, had been divided in two in order to host 16 different
masterclasses over two days, one every hour from 9am to 6pm. It was too much,
and several delegates told Meininger’s they found them chaotic.
Other masterclasses were well-prepared and fascinating,
particularly the introduction by oenologist Fabien Ozanne on the terroirs of
the Côte Rôtie in Ampuis (where there was less pressure, and fewer delegates,
than further south). A panel discussion, with Andrew Jefford, Bernard Burtschy
and the prolific consultant Philippe Cambie on Trends in Wine, produced some
thought-provoking arguments, such as on the origins of the rosé boom, the
dangers of following fashions in wine, and the natural wine movement. On the
latter, Jefford provoked laughter with his analogy between the use of sulphites
and underarm deodorant: “If everyone stopped using deodorant then we would all
smell of sweat,” he said. “But that wouldn’t necessarily be a good thing.”
| Moins sexy... Inter-Rhone ads not as sure-footed |
The Découvertes is, in the end, an exercise in publicity,
something Inter Rhône has always been good at. Leaving aside the fatuous ad
campaigns (“Plus sexy de CameRhône Diaz” was a low point), the Valley’s trade
association is sure-footed. Its campaigns in China have been imaginative,
offering prizes for the best way of expressing the colour red through different
artistic media, whether painting, fashion or theatre. Their latest wheeze is to
get people to make short films and publish them. In all this it consciously
tries to attract a younger audience.
Chapoutier sees attracting the young as essential, and he has announced plans for Rhône
Valley winemakers and their American Rhone Ranger counterparts to sponsor the children
of smaller wine producers on visits to American and Australian wine schools.
| Perhaps not the effect one wants from a foie gras |
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