Chateau Romanin nestles against the flanks of the Alpilles, in the heart of the Baux de Provence appellation (where 80% of wine is organically or biodynamically produced!). Pascal Fraychet, director of the winery, tells us a little more about the estate and the philosophy of its proprietors.

I believe this is not your first Special Mention in our competition?

We did indeed win a Special Mention a few years ago. This one is all the more gratifying because since our first medal there have been a few changes in the winery, with its acquisition by Anne-Marie and Jean-Louis Charmolüe (former proprietors of a second grand cru classe in Médoc).  We’re trying to keep our work in continuity with the major principles defined by the Peyrauds (former proprietors), who switched to biodynamic production in 1989, but also to strive for improvement on all levels. This prize is a tribute to the winery’s maturity and acquired experience. And the medal has all the more value given that the number of contestants increases every year.

Will this medal make a great deal of difference to you?

Most importantly, it gives credibility to our production philosophy. It may also arouse buyers’ curiosity and, perhaps, entice them to visit our stand. But we take part in very few competitions; we prefer to send samples to the major wine guides and magazines. This year’s vintage has been well-reviewed in several publications.

You’ve been a participant in Millesime Bio since the beginning. What are your objectives for the next fair?

Until now we haven’t done much exporting; 90% of our sales activity is in France. We would like to develop our export capacity and I’m sure Millesime Bio will help us make new contacts with that aim in view.

Philippe Goulley cultivates two organic vineyards in Burgundy. His cuvee "Simone Tremblay" 2009, AOP Chablis Premier Cru Fourchaume, garnered one of the four Special Mentions of the jury at the last Challenge Millesime Bio contest.

A long-time proponent of organic farming, you took over the family winery at the same as time you were developing your own. You manage different brands within the same appellation. Could you explain your sales strategy?

That’s true; I manage two vineyards producing AOP Petit Chablis, Chablis, and Chablis Premier Cru (Montmains and Fourchaume). After working with the family on "Les Domaines Jean Goulley and Son", I created my own winery in 1991, a 5-hectare property, farmed organically from the beginning, the "Domaine Philippe Goulley". A few years ago I took over the family business, which I converted to organic farming throughout its 13 hectares. Wines produced by "Les Domaines Jean Goulley" are primarily meant for export, where Chablis is traditionally more appreciated than on the French market. We are present in the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, and, to a lesser degree, the United States and Japan. In France, these wines are also sold to cafés, hotels, and restaurants, a market in which organic wines are not necessarily an easy sell … But I think organic wine should enter markets outside the traditional organic distribution network, and that’s what I’m trying to do with the "Simone Tremblay"  range we’ve just developed. I’m beginning to cover the traditional French sales territory, but with a new retail clientele. I’m also offering this line to my new importers, who aren’t organic wine purists, but are interested in these wines. With the wines from my "Domaine Philippe Goulley", I’ve been on the French market for twenty years, essentially within the organic distribution network.

What do you think about competitions?

We don’t enter many competitions. We’ve done a few in the United Kingdom (not specifically organic; Decanter and International Wine Challenge) and the Amphore competition in France [Philippe Goulley’s wines have won several medals. – Ed.]. But it was important for us to take part in the Challenge Millesime Bio, because it’s the most important worldwide organic wine competition. And I believe the makers of and competition organisers for organic wine must support each other, for the good of organic viticulture.

You’ve been an exhibitor at Millesime Bio since the beginning; what appeals to you about this fair?

Yes, I’m a faithful supporter of Millesime Bio! For me, this fair is important for two reasons: we Burgundians have the reputation of being housebound, not getting out much – so this yearly gathering lets us see our customers. And furthermore, for the past three or four years something different has been in the air, I notice a lot of new visitors, and every year we make many new contacts at Millesime Bio.

Fanny Monbouché is the 5^th generation to tend the vines at Domaine Theulet-Marsalet and the 3^rd to promote the values of organic farming! She explains to us why and talks about her Monbazillac wine, which received a special mention at the last Millesime Bio Challenge.

Fanny, to start with can you tell us about your estate and the family connection with organic farming?

Theulet-Marsalet is a 27 ha estate (67 acres) that’s been farmed organically since the mid 60s. My grandfather was the first to use the principles of the Lemaire-Boucher process. He then engaged in private charters, since organic standards and certification weren’t defined until much later. Quite naturally, my father and then myself, continued his work.

Your grandfather must have been seen as coming from another planet at the time?

He didn’t actually talk about it. But my father was seen as coming from another planet in the 80s, so yes, for sure it must have been pretty uncommon in 1965!

Do you principally produce Monbazillac ?

We produce Monbazillac on 16 ha and red Bergerac on 11 ha. We also do a little dry white and rosé in the Bergerac appellation, but only in small quantities.

Where are your wines found?

We’re not very active overseas. To give you a general idea, our clientele is made up of one third private customers, one third wine merchants, organic grocers and small wholesalers; and the other third goes to organic brokers.

Do your wines often “stand out” at competitions?

I don’t normally take part in competitions, ever! I often find that in competitions they just don’t know how to assess our wines, especially as they’re always different from other wines because of our organic approach. But this time, I thought “why not?” As I felt my 2009 was looking rather good and we were going to be at the show anyway, so there you go! I hope this medal will draw people who are curious and eager to discover the rest of our range, as well as help to make our dessert wines better known. There’s a paradox with dessert wines: almost everyone likes and drinks them, but the trade shies away from them… Yet there is a very steady market for them - all available dessert wines find their own customers and the volumes sold remain stable. They also keep for a long time and really deserve to be given more consideration. We have another problem: we’re always in the shadow of Sauternes (even though, in terms of quality, we’re easily on a par), due to unfortunate strategic decisions taken in the 70s-80s that we’re paying dearly…

Is Millesime Bio an important show for you?

Yes, I visited the show out of curiosity some time ago, while I was studying in Montpellier. There were about forty exhibitors at the time! When I took over the estate, I took part in it for several years. Then I concentrated on consumer shows, where I also had sufficient contact with trade professionals. Then things changed and buyers no longer went to anything other the trade events. So Millesime Bio has really become an essential event for us.

What type of buyers do you particularly want to meet?

I’m looking for relays in towns, wine merchants and organic retailers; I’m not looking for large volumes. This could weaken our position as we’re already fully stretched and produce just enough to satisfy our customers. Every year, since coming back to Millesime Bio, I’ve won a new wine merchant. We discuss ideas and really forge a trusting relationship; this is very important for us. This amounts to maybe two palettes over the year, not a ‘big deal’ per se, but this is how we like to work.

Timo, I think the “zur Römerkelter” winery has a family story, can you tell us more about it?

My family has been producing wine since 1729 - I’m the 10^th generation of winegrowers! We produce around 60,000 bottles per year. My father did extensive research in biodiversity, and we received our organic certification in 1995. Since 2003, we’ve been using biodynamic know-how in line with Demeter rules – but at the moment we’re not certified (we’re now thinking about getting this Demeter certification). My father and my mother work with me, I guess we have this passion in our genes!

What’s the idea behind “edition bee”?

Most of our vineyards are located in the “Honigberg” zone (“honey-hill”).This is where our idea of “Edition Bee” was born. When we saw the beetles, bees and bumblebees flying around in our vineyard, we decided to start doing this range of products reflecting our goal to produce wine from selected grapes for maximum enjoyment and quality with a built-in good cause.  In 2009, I teamed up with Andreas Thran who manages the winemaking and commercial part, and we started this project.

How are your wines distributed? Can we find them outside of Germany?

Most of them are sold in Germany. Switzerland and Scandinavia have become growing markets for us. And we’re working with partners all around the world. We’re now expanding our operations into Asia (and of course other European countries), which explains why we’re at Millesime Bio. With our “Edition-Bee”, we’re trying to get away from the very price-sensitive German market – we have to sell our range at a fair price as we have also set the highest social standards (certified by Delinat guidelines) for these products. We’re now looking for distributors to expand our operations and keep our philosophical goals going. 

What about the award-winning wine?

We are very, very proud of this award! As it’s the first vintage of our special edition wine as well, this prize is recognition of the great job we did, and shows us we’re doing the right thing. The award-winning wine is the entry-level riesling in our portfolio – imagine what the other four wines in “Edition-Bee” taste like! All our rieslings are designed for long-term ageing and drinking, so we think our top wines will need a few more years to show their full potential.

The idea behind our “Beetle” was to create a perfect companion for a great dinner and evening with some friends at a reasonable price – low alcohol, fresh fruitiness and mineral character – just try it and you’ll see what we had in mind!

What do you expect from the forthcoming European regulations on organic winemaking?

I think this new law will let us make things clearer and give the organic wine world a legal framework. This is going to help us reposition ourselves in export markets where, in certain countries, we’re constantly being reminded that "there’s no organic wine" in Europe at the moment. This is particularly true in Canada, where importers and the monopolies have been asking for Europe to get its organic technical specifications sorted including wine. When this is done, synergies between Canadian and European organic specs can come into play and we’ll get ourselves out of the dead-end we’re now in.

Is this going to change anything for the consumer?

I don’t think your average consumer in Europe asks the same questions as certain media, who don’t stop banging on about "there isn’t any organic wine." Organic wine exists as far as consumers are concerned, they already feel protected by what organic winemakers are doing.

Do you think a new law on top of organic regulations is positive?

Organic farming has led us to just as high levels of traceability in the vineyard as in the cellar: keeping records of additives and what they’re used for, any maintenance and cleaning done etc. (and sometimes even to the detriment of the winegrowers’ hard work, who care about the health of our soil and fruit… since it’s them who make good wine after all!)

This rule, even if you can argue about and make changes to this or that facet, is a political victory for consumers and producers.

Gérard Boisseau is director of Japexbio, a company specialising in exporting organic French and European wines to Japan. His Japanese associate, Yasushi Tamura, is managing director of the company Mavie that distributes these wines throughout Japan. Both of them have been coming regularly to the Millésime Bio fair for over ten years. We made a cross interview to evaluate the situation on this market six months after the Fukushima disaster.

What was the situation with the organic wine market in Japan before last March?

Gérard Boisseau: Organic wines started appearing in Japan at the end of the 90s, and Mavie initiated various information and promotional campaigns on these products.

You should remember that per capita wine consumption in Japan is still quite low and isn’t part of Japanese tradition. Even so, organic wine found a foothold in this context with an educated clientele who prefer organic produce in general.

Since March 2011, this customer base has probably got bigger with people being more aware after what happened at Fukushima. 

Yasushi Tamura: In Japan, people think organic wine and natural wine are one and the same. We’re trying to correct and dispel this misunderstanding, but it’s not easy. So it’s difficult for us to give you trends purely concerning organic wines. Despite this situation, supermarkets are beginning to list organic wines, and you can find them in almost all wine merchants or even on restaurant wine-lists. The organic wine market, which didn’t exist in 1998 when we set up our company, saw the light of day and has certainly developed since we started in business 13 years ago.

What volume of wine do you import every year? Which channel(s) do you favour when looking for your suppliers?

Yasushi Tamura: Approx. 14000 cases. Mavie has always preferred meeting our suppliers on the spot. For at least 13 years, Mavie and Japexbio have been going to the Millésime Bio fair to discover producers and their wines. Meeting new suppliers very often happens thanks to our established suppliers. At Mavie we show our producers on our website set in context with their story and their personal commitment to organics. The relationship between Mavie and our producers is above all on a human level and is firmed up by the wines we choose and select.

Can you describe the Japanese organic wine consumer to us?

Gérard Boisseau: The typical Japanese consumer of organic wines is busy 30 to 50 year-old women with above average income. This type of consumer is looking for good quality of life with good food and wine, and is open to changes in Japanese cooking influenced by European culture.

Yasushi Tamura: It isn’t straightforward generalizing about which wines the Japanese prefer, since it’s still a new product that’s slowly making inroads into daily eating and drinking. The Japanese consumer will preferably match Japanese cuisine with fresh fruity white wines, dry rosés or soft reds.

The tsunami after the earthquake caused serious radioactive contamination in the Fukushima region; how have consumers reacted to this? Is there increasing demand for organic or imported produce? And what about wine?

Yasushi Tamura: Reactions have been very varied depending on consumer sensitivity and where they’re from. On the one hand, there are those who are worried and only buy farm produce grown in areas far away from Fukushima; on the other, certain people are trying to buy produce from the Fukushima and Tôhoku regions (the northeast part of Honshu island, where the disaster happened) to offer their support. But you get the impression more and more people just don’t believe the official government line any more, who still keep saying: “it’s not dangerous.”

As for wines, most are imported and the real enthusiasts only buy imported wines. So, on this level, there’s not a big difference between before and after what happened on 11th March.

It’s well known that the main problem facing wine exporters to Japan is the issue of holding stock in situ. For organic wines, generally with less SO2 than conventional wines, this issue of warehousing conditions can have really negative consequences on wine quality. Have you been able to find solutions to safeguard this process and be sure the wines reach consumers in perfect condition?

Yasushi Tamura: We’re totally committed to this. Our wines are our suppliers’ masterpieces, so we have to respect product quality and deliver them to our customers in the best conditions.

Gérard Boisseau: To deal with these concerns, we’ve drawn up a shipping protocol between France and Japan, national and international hauliers and suppliers. Hence, for every shipment to Japan, the wines are picked up by refrigerated lorry at the property, then grouped together near the departure port to be loaded into air-conditioned containers with constant temperature-control (11 to 13°C) all the way to the destination port in Japan. Once they’ve arrived, the wines are unloaded and stored in air-conditioned premises.

Yasushi Tamura: These wines are then sold by distributors who we pick according to strict specifications, which stipulate all products supplied by Mavie must be put into air-conditioned cellars, including restaurants too. Direct retail sales are through Mavie Corp’s shops as well, also equipped with air-conditioned cellars. All of our distributors display dummy bottles, and temperature checks are done at all levels of the warehousing and distribution chain.

Unfortunately, not all importers share these concerns; and often department stores, supermarkets or wine shops sell wines in brightly lit rooms well above 20 degrees. For example, we found a bottle in a department store, whose back-label said: “This wine is fragile, keep it below 14 degrees,” and it was at least 23 degrees in this shop. Most Japanese customers can’t read French, so they’re not aware of the problem. It’s letting down customers and also producers. These poor stocking and display conditions by store owners, who don’t really care or understand, have done a lot of harm to organic wines: wine journalists haven’t been in a position to talk objectively about these wines, as they’ve compared them to conventional wines less sensitive to changes in temperature.

Organic wines have suffered because of this situation, and many wine journalists have often written that organic wines have a certain characteristic smell in common. Result: wine lovers concluded that organic wines weren’t up to scratch compared to regular wines. This trend is starting to change, and people who taste our wines are amazed by their quality, completely different from “mistreated” organic wines. They often become our biggest fans.

Have you planned any promotional activity for organic wines in Japan in 2012 and, if so, what?

Yasushi Tamura: We’ll be at the ‘Organic Festa’ show, for example, organised by the Japan Organic Association (headed up by Mr. Tamura). We’re going to make the most of it to educate the public and organise large-scale organic wine tastings.

How did you find out about the show?

Some importers told me it would be worth our while to put our wines on tasting at the show, that it’d suit our type of wines well. And the producers were still telling us about it.

Six months after Millésime Bio 2011, what feedback can you give us about being there?

We met lots of worthwhile buyers, which really surprised us as our first time there. There were Dutch, Belgian, Luxemburg, German, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Italian and American importers. There was a lot of interest shown by the French too, especially restaurateurs. The most important criterion for me is that visitors to the show are really looking for good wines, and when they find them, they buy them.

Bearing this in mind, do you plan to be there again in January 2012 ?

Yes, we’ll be back in 2012 !

Guy Labeyrie is joint-owner of this Bulgarian wine estate, lying not far from the Turkish border. He’s been making certified organic wines since 2008, which are sold equally on the domestic market and exported mainly to Germany, northern Europe and France (thanks to Millésime Bio !)

It was the first time you took part in Millésime Bio wine show last January. Six months later, what feedback do you have?

Great! The first palettes of our wines arrived in late May on the French market, and this is what we’d planned to do, to get a foothold in France by coming to Millésime Bio.

What outlets?

Mostly independent wine shops and organic retailers.

What does the show have to offer for a producer like you?

I’m at the London Wine Fair, Vinexpo and Biofach; but you get buyers at Millésime Bio that you don’t meet elsewhere. The contacts I made at Millésime Bio went way beyond French turf, and the export approach was also rewarding; I was actually surprised by the geographical diversity of the people we spoke to: importers from at least ten different countries came to see us (Swedish, Canadian, English…), although I didn’t do any sales prospecting before the show. I felt a real thirst for new things from these visitors (we came with wines made from indigenous varieties). By the end of the show, I didn’t have a single drop of wine left for tasting! These are relationships that last; I’ve now got serious contacts with some North American buyers in particular.

To sum up my view of the show, I’d say, in terms of quality contacts, Millésime Bio has nothing to be embarrassed about compared to other trade shows. First off, I was very surprised by the show’s simple nature then by its efficient organisation.

Your wines have won several medals in the Biofach competition in recent years, do you think you’ll take part in the Challenge Millésime Bio 2012 ?

I think so.

So, you’ll be back in 2012 ?

Yes, we’ll be there again as, for a medium-size producer like us offering something new, this show’s well worth it. I’ll certainly show the organic wine from my other estate in Romania too, also with indigenous varieties.