The CIVL (Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins du Languedoc — but I’m sure you knew that ;D) has declared a new system of classification in the Languedoc to separate and celebrate the “Grands vins du Languedoc” and “Grands Crus du Languedoc”.  Articles in Harpers and Drinks Business for the full story.

A lot of people have been asking me what I think about this and I guess I should take a moment to express my personal feelings about how the CIVL’s newly declared hierarchy.

On the one hand, the Languedoc is certainly entitled to having some Grands Crus or terroirs/wineries that have proven themselves over time to be emblematic champions of the region.  It might seem absurd or capricious today to arbitrarily say that certain places or people are better winemakers than others.  But hey, fake it til you make it.  In a hundred years, the Grands Crus du Languedoc might seem  just as legitimate as the Grands Crus de Bordeaux or Grands Crus de Bourgogne (determined by the laws from 1855, parcel drawings of Cistercian monks, and other really legit old stuff).

That said, it’s a pretty classic move for my dear region.  At a time when so much of the world mocks the complexity, capriciousness, and obsolesence of the Grands Crus system in other parts of France, we establish a long term plan to incorporate it into how we sell wine.  We’re about 200 years too late.  But hey, it can’t really hurt us.

At worst, a couple of people (generally folks who are “in the know” about wine) will ridicule the effort.  But at best, we can seriously raise self-esteem in the area.  We have to throw our old defeatist attitude in the rubbish bin.  The Languedoc is GREAT.  And we have Grands Crus too!  Power to us.

Now, what do we hope to gain from it?  Other than just being a positive mantra to sort of repeat to yourself as you wake up each morning?  I don’t know.

When Frederic Jeanjean, President of the CIVL and owner of Jeanjean (edit: large groupe viticole based out of Terrasses du Larzac) says the strategy will “transform the Languedoc into a profitable, quality wine?making region”, I think that’s a little ambitious.  Really?  Calling certain wines and crus Grand is going to transform the Languedoc into a profitable quality winemaking region?  That’s a tall order.  What exactly is the strategy being referred to?  Well, the Drinks Business article alludes to “a detailed action plan of technical, economic and marketing strategies, which will provide a framework for its activities over the coming years.”  Let me tell you, that I have not seen much of that detailed plan of action.

Short of checking the CIVL news site (which I really like), I don’t get much news from them at all.  You might assume this is some fault of mine, but let me clarify my relationship to the interprofession.  I am forced to pay dues to put AOC Cabardes on my wine bottles.  And a significant portion of those dues goes to the CIVL.  So I am a paying member of the Interprofession.  Then they also send you letters and try to get you to pay as an individual.  So they have my address.  But they don’t send me invitations to the assemblee generale.  Just more requests for me to make double payments on my wine production.

Here’s the only thing I have received regarding the new hierarchy plan, copied and pasted from an email sent within the AOC Cabardes ODG (our syndicat):

Premier niveau : LES VINS DU LANGUEDOC

ð Niveau d’objectif : entre 3 et 4 € par col (prix TTC consommateurs) et pour les marques de distributeurs : 2,50 € par col (prix TTC consommateurs).

ðPrix vrac d’objectif : 90 à 100 € l’hl avec un rendement de : 50 à 55 hl/ha

ðPrix plancher d’objectif : 80€ l’hl.

Deuxième Niveau : LES GRANDS VINS DU LANGUEDOC

ðNiveau d’objectif :entre 4 € et 7 € par col (prix TTC consommateurs).

ðRendement de 48 à 50 hl/ha

ðPossibilité de repli en AOC LANGUEDOC (a priori pour le Cabardès sous réserve d’identification par l’INAO des parcelles complantées en cépages méditerranéens)

Troisième Niveau : LES CRUS DU LANGUEDOC

ðNiveau d’objectif : au-delà de 7-10 €/cols (prix TTC consommateurs au caveau)

Les AOP du Languedoc seront réparties entre le deuxième niveau (les grands vins du Languedoc) et le troisième niveau (les crus du Languedoc) en fonction :

– du souhait de positionnement des ODG de chaque appellation

– de critères économiques précis garantissant l’homogénéité du segment de marché.

Les critères économiques retenus en première analyse pour accéder au segment « crus du Languedoc » :

– nombre de producteurs (entre 30 et 50 metteurs en marché),

– volume de production (entre 25.000 à 35.000 hectolitres commercialisés),

– rendement maximum (45 hl/ha : critères INAO 2008),

– prix vrac (>150 €/hl) ou pourcentage des ventes directes (>70%),

– prix consommateurs (caveau > 10 € TTC /  GD : > 7 € TTC ),

– mise en bouteille en région restreinte de production

And this is a CIVL powerpoint PROJET DE SEGMENTATION DE L’OFFRE DES AOC which ostensibly originates from that June assemblee referred to in the Drinks Business article.

So I guess the plan is just to limit each tier to a certain yield, certain price per bottle, total number of producers, certain size of plantation, and quantity of production (although this should really be a function of yield and size of plantations).

Anyway, this is a really long post just to say that I don’t really know what I think about this new strategy.  If the CIVL continues to operate in a way that even a winemaker like me who spends a great deal of effort trying to stay branché has no idea what they’re doing, I don’t see how this new system of classification can “transform the Languedoc into a profitable, quality wine?making region”.  A rose by any other name.

But at the same time, I’m glad to see they’re sending out positive press releases and that people are reading that stuff.  Because hey, we deserve grands crus just as much as Bordeaux if not more.

PS – One of the execs at the CIVL said that the new hierarchy will “mould the future of the Languedoc region for the next 15 years.” … Even that seems a little ambitious.  I feel like I’m probably going to have more impact on this region than some system of classification put forth by the CIVL (who has lost a lot of gumption in the Freche years) but I guess that’s a subject for another post.