Walmart, the supermarket chain operator, has taken up two boutique Bourgogne estates from lesser-known Bourgogne appellations, for its membership store Sam’s Club across China, as it beefs up its Bourgogne portfolio to attract the country’s expanding urbanites.
The new additions which became available across China after Mid-Autumn Festival came shortly after the supermarket operator added Edouard Delaunay’s Heritage line and Septembre wine range to its offerings.
One of the new estates is Clos Saint Louis in Fixin, situated in the Côte de Nuits region between Dijon and Gevrey-Chambertin, and the other is Maison Remi Seguin located in Morey-Saint-Denis. Both are represented by DVP, one of France’s biggest sourcing and marketing companies representing over 250 estates in five major French wine regions and bought by Badet Clément in 2003.
“We believe that this collaboration between Sam’s Club and DVP will create great synergies. It will allow a broader population of Chinese consumers to discover a wider range of Burgundy estates wines with great price quality value ratio from Cote de Nuits, Cote de Beaune and Cote Chalonnaise,” says Olivier Hui-Bon-Hoa, Regional Director of Asia at Badet Clément.
“This is made possible by combining the sourcing abilities of DVP as one of the French leading specialist in the distribution and marketing of estates wines (over 250 estates including around 150 from Bourgogne alone) together with Sam’s Club retailing ability to reach for their members and consumers anywhere in mainland China. Two wines estates are now already available but several more estates will made their way to China soon.”
Clos Saint Louis
Located 300 meters above sea level inside a 12th century church, Clos Saint Louis winery includes an old vigneron’s house built in 1634 and a hunting lodge that dates back to 1703, to which 12 hectares of vines are situated on several parcels in the hamlet of Fixey.
For decades, the estate has been run by the Bernards, an old Burgundian family, where many have served as majors of Dijion and most recently Charles Bernard was the mayor of Fixin. Today, the estate is run by his son, Philippe, who took over the domaine in 1995.
Its flagship wine is made from a 3.5ha monopoly and both 2017 and 2018 vintages have become available through Sam’s Club, which boasts 4 million paid members across China in 36 of its stores across 23 cities.
Maison Rémi Seguin
Another estate from Cote de Nuits that has been taken up by Sam’s Club is Maison Rémi Seguin in Morey-Saint-Denis. Its vineyard contains several prestigious parcels and Climats in Gevrey Chambertin, Morey-Saint-Denis and Chambolle-Musigny.
In 2011, the whole estate was acquired by the well-known Burgundian winemaker Frédéric Magnien, one of the shrewdest and sharpest winemakers working in the Côte d’Or today. Following this acquisition, Magnien set up a business under Maison Remi Seguin beside the one he already operates under Maison Frederic Magnien and the renowned Domaine Michel Magnien.
The Magnien’s Family is a key actor in the wine culture of Côte d’Or. The Michel Magnien estate and the Frédéric Magnien house work naturally, without pesticides or herbicides, by enhancing the natural environment of the soil and the vine guided by the philosophy of biodynamics, in particular by strengthening the vitality and resistance of the plant.
In line with its biodynamic winemaking philosophy, Rémi Seguin is also embracing a bio-lunar oriented philosophy. Two of its wines Marsannay and Gevery Chambertin will be distributed by Walmart’s Sam’s Club in China.
