The importance of Chinese market to Bordeaux can never be understated. Starting from early 2000s, China has become a main driver for Bordeaux sales, and by 2010, it has become Bordeaux’s No. 1 export market and has since stayed on top.
Coming off from a pandemic-hit year, Bordeaux looks stronger than ever in the Chinese market. In the first half of 2021, roughly over 23% of Bordeaux wines in volume were shipped to China, Bernard Farges, president of the Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB), told Vino Joy News in an interview.
In the post-pandemic market, the Chinese market again proved to be essential for Bordeaux. China emerged as the country with “the strongest growth” yet for the prestigious wine region, Farges noted.
Representing 60-odd appellations in Bordeaux and nearly 6,000 professional trade members, the association is leveraging its diversity and market know-how to stay on top of Chinese market. “Consumers have changed. The occasions of consumption have evolved,” says Farges, before adding that “as have the wines produced in Bordeaux.”
The renowned French wine region in the past few years have reinvented itself, making a drive for sustainability and organic farming. So far, about 75% of Bordeaux’s vineyard area has adopted a ‘certified environmental approach’, according to CIVB. There was a 43% jump in the amount of Bordeaux vineyard land either certified organic or in conversion in 2021.
This year, CIVB is launching a massive consumer campaign geared to revamp Bordeaux’s traditional image for a generation of young urban drinkers in China, identified as a priority target group for the region.
Here, we talked to the association president on Bordeaux’s evolving wines, its strategies for China and its ongoing fight against counterfeit wines in the market.
Scroll through the page to the full interview.
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