Revolutionizing Bordeaux Wines: Innovative Pairings and Market Challenges

2023-12-13 09:58:36

While Bordeaux wines are going through a period of declining popularity, their representatives are seeking to attract a younger and female audience by breaking with the image traditionally associated with red meats. Today, we discover with astonishment the possible pairings between these wines and dishes such as sushi, hamburgers, sweet desserts and even vegetarian dishes. The challenge is great for the Bordeaux Wine Interprofessional Council (CIVB), which must face both sluggish demand and excess supply.

An original and daring campaign

With this in mind, the CIVB has launched a innovative campaign with limited resources, aiming to reverse the trend and attract new consumers, particularly young people and women. Bordeaux wines thus present themselves in a new light, with surprising pairing suggestions such as:

great reds with sushi or vegetarian dishes,
sweet white wines to accompany chocolate desserts,
rosés with burgers or spicy ethnic dishes.

These ideas, unthinkable a few years ago, are now accepted and adopted by players in the sector.

A response to market challenges

This campaign is part of a context of economic crisis and imbalance between supply and demandparticularly due to the various climatic, health and geopolitical hazards that winegrowers must face.

One of the main levers of action envisaged is a lifting plan of 9,500 hectares of vines, financed by a budget of 57 million euros from the State and inter-professional organizations. This system aims to reduce annual production by around 500,000 hectoliters and allow wine growers to maintain their activity despite financial difficulties.

Support from the State and institutional partners

Although this plan represents a significant financial burden, the CIVB benefits from the support of the government and institutional partners such as the Caisse des Dépôts. The Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, recalled his commitment to the wine sector: “ We have an obligation to achieve results because this plan is achievable and realistic […] The State will provide an additional eight million euros if the budget allocated for renaturation is used in its entirety!« .

Future prospects for Bordeaux wines

It remains to be seen whether this strategy of desecration and innovation in terms of food and wine pairings will allow Bordeaux wines to return to success. Despite budgetary restrictions, the CIVB continues to work on ambitious projects, in particular the creation of a public wine land establishment whose mission would be:

to take over assets,
to restructure them with an agri-food perspective,
and resell or rent them in order to implement a consolidation process.

This initiative would also be accompanied by prior assessments in terms of soil science, agronomy and hydrology, with a view to preserving and promoting the Bordeaux region.

The hope of a recovery

For now, the call for the grubbing plan is still open until December 20, and nearly 900 applications representing approximately 6,000 hectares have already been submitted. The future outlook is therefore uncertain but hopeful, with a sector that knows how to reinvent itself and offer daring agreements to win back the hearts of consumers.

While waiting to see if these initiatives will bear fruit, do not hesitate to test these unique pairings between Bordeaux wines and your favorite dishesto perhaps rediscover these exceptional products in a new light.