Tag: Jacquart

Champagne Castelnau is the official Champagne of the Tour de France

Champagne Castelnau has replaced Jacquart as this year’s exclusive Champagne poured on the Tour de France.

Champagne Castelnau has signed a three-year deal with Tour de France in an attempt to raise their profile in France and the UK (its largest export market).

With two days left of the Tour, it is widely believed Bradley Wiggins will clinch the first British victory of the Tour.

Pascal Prudhomme, General Manager, of Champagne Castelnau said he hoped to mimic the success of Skoda in France since the car manufacturer became the official partner of the race nine years ago.

Champagne Castelnau is owned by one of the sparkling wine region’s largest cooperatives, the Coopérative Regionale des Vins de Champagne (CRVC).

Pascal added that he believed the new tie-up with the Tour would also be an encouragement for the growers, which supply grapes to the cooperative.

“It shows them that the brand is strong and we are investing in it,” he said.

Meanwhile, within France, Pascal said he expected the brand to benefit from the visibility among the VIPs present at corporate events running alongside the race, particularly the many guests and buyers from French supermarket chain Carrefour, which has sponsored the Tour’s polka dot jersey since 2009.

The tour has a long association with Champagne, not just due to the region’s regular appearance in the race, but also because of the wine’s historic use as a source of energy for the riders.

It is said that Maurice Garin, who won the first Tour de France in 1903, kept himself fuelled on a mixture of Champagne and coffee.

 

Liz Palmer

@champagnehouses

 

Champagne Jacquart lines up acquisitions

Champagne Jacquart is eyeing acquisitions as it seeks to become a bigger international player.

Jacquart is looking for possible buys in the Champagne region and expects opportunities to come its way in the next couple of years.

“There’s a consolidation process going on in Champagne,” Jacquart’s MD, Laurent Reintau, told Harpers at the London International Wine Fair last week. “We want to be prepared for that,” he said.

The group and its parent arm, the Champagne Alliance cooperative, have already shown their desire to expand, having acquired Montaudon Champagne from Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton in 2010. Jacquart is looking to require more vineyards and stock as it seeks to expand into US and Asia.

While the UK and Germany remain the firm’s key export markets, volume sales of its Champagne to Japan are up 35% year-to-date, according to Reinteau. “Asia is becoming significant and is seeing significant growth,” he said, adding that Jacquart is also making inroads in the “magic triangle” of Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong.

However, Reinteau said that the company will not be rushed into expansion. “We know it will take time.” In 2011, Jacquart sold 3m bottles of Champagne, of which 55% was exported.

Reinteau said that, alongside emerging markets, he is pleased with his firm’s efforts to expand distribution in high-end bars and independent retailers in the UK over the past year. Distribution and premium positioning are key in the UK, he said. “The UK is still a major market for Champagne, but we can’t expect big growth.”

Source: Harpers