Guillaume and Vanessa Chamboredon, in Béziers, are holding their ground. Midi Libre – Laurent François
Marc Royo, qui travaille aussi son vin dans des amphores, souffre et se démène pour vendre ses nectars. Midi Libre – Laurent François
Alors que le salon Millésime bio bat son plein à Montpellier, si certains vignerons du Biterrois ne regrettent pas d’avoir franchi le pas du bio, d’autres souffrent d’un marché qui a tendance à stagner.
Production costs, number of bottles in stock, hectares of vines, hectolitres… With a smile as sad as it is bitter on his lips, Marc Royo, from the Emile et Rose estate in Corneilhan, reels off figures, numbers and statistics. At a time when the Millésime Bio fair in Montpellier is in full swing and its organizers are hammering home the fact that organic wines are all the rage, the Corneilhan winemaker is looking gloomy: “I am sad and unhappy because I am convinced that producing organic is what is needed, assures the winemaker who is struggling to make ends meet. But we were abandoned after encouraging us to get involved in the process…”
“From 20,000 to 70,000 bottles then…”
Marc Royo took over the Emile et Rose estate in 2018. The property does not produced only organic since the 2000s: “10 hectares and 20,000 bottles, says the winemaker.All the lights were green at the time. It was a small estate that had enormous potential.” The winemaker then invested and extended his vineyard over 34 hectares. The future was bright. In average yield, on the Mediterranean grape varieties that he cultivates, he relies on a production of 35 hectoliters per hectare. 70,000 bottles leave his cellar “of which 25,000 are exported to the United States, 35,000 to Paris and 10,000 to the rest of France.”
The Covid brake
Covid-19 will ultimately put a major brake on the winemaker's production. Foreign trade is stalling. The inflation of the cost of raw materials, from the start of the war in Ukraine, is the final straw. The estate finds itself with a stock of 100,000 bottles to sell: “In the first year, we lost €300,000 in cash, says Marc Royo. In 2022, we sold the hectoliter of bulk at €85 instead of the usual €180 to €200. Knowing that for us, the production cost is €160 per hectoliter. We lost €100,000 in 2022. The organic market collapsed.”
To deal with the crisis, Marc Royo decided to uproot 14 hectares. He has kept ten organic and vinifies the other ten conventionally (non-organic), in a cooperative cellar: “We feel abandoned by the communities, the State and the unions…” he hammers home regretfully. Today, our goal is not to make money but to not lose it.”
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000“We don't regret going organic”
At the Chamboredon estate in Béziers, established since 2002, Guillaume and Vanessa switched to organic in 2018. They cultivate 11 hectares of vines, vinified in a private cellar. Initially sold in bulk and in bulk to wine merchants, they then turned to bottle production. They produce between 25,000 and 30,000 bottles each year on average, admitting that the task is not always easy. They assure that they do not“I don't regret our choice, even if it is sometimes complicated in relation to the cultivation of vines, because you have to follow certain restrictive specifications and it requires a lot of manual work. When you spend all your time in the vineyards, you are not selling the production… Our goal is to increase the turnover precisely so that we can hire people to devote ourselves a little more to sales.”
The Chamboredon estate sells most of its production to wine merchants. This year, Guillaume and Vanessa have decided not to participate in the Millésime bio trade fair. Their goal: to save on participation in the event in order to focus on a commercial approach later. “Wine merchants and wholesalers represent 90% of our sales, explains Guillaume Chamboredon. In March, we will therefore go to meet wine merchants in new regions to present our wines to them.” “When you are small like us, contact is important, , assures Vanessa, his partner. Especially since the market is tightening, especially internationally, and the sale of organic bulk products has completely collapsed. This is also why we stopped producing bulk products two years ago. We have to fight.”
“Organic, a philosophy”
On the side of Anne-Laure Gauch and Sébastien Borras, from the Domaine du Nouveau Monde, in Vendres, morale is high. The couple's production, which participates in the Millésime bio show and works 20 hectares of vines, was certified in 2020. They do not regret this conversion at all: “Switching to organic was not a gamble, it is a philosophy, an environmental respect, a desire to work cleanly, explains the winemaker enthusiastically. We were already in the process, we ate organic and drank organic. We didn't do it in the context of seeking financial value. And we are delighted. This allowed us to penetrate markets that we didn't have, such as organic businesses. Customers that we had, before switching to organic, also followed us.”
In terms of production costs, Anne-Laure Gauch assures that they are “almost identical to conventional. Knowing that we were subsidized for the purchase of equipment. Where it costs more, it is in terms of human investment. We have not increased our prices. If we had to do it again, we would do it again.”
“Organic does not make the taste”
Organic wine is of particular interest to wine merchants. Beyond the fans of this criterion, who are not particularly numerous, they appreciate selling products that they know, very often, are carefully crafted. "Organic is a label that helps winemakers sell their wines on certain markets, analyzes Cyrille Romero of Caves Notre-Dame in Béziers. When organic came out on the market, there was a rush on these wines, it's true. This is no longer really the case today. Often, those who ask for it today are reassured by the organic label but are generally unaware of the work of the winemaker. Knowing that organic does not make the taste." The wine merchant explains however that 80% of the wines sold are labeled in his shop where he has 1,200 references: "When we make our selection, we do not look at whether they are organic wines or not but it turns out that, in general, they are, specifies Cyrille Romero. The important thing, for us, is the price/pleasure ratio. The criterion remains the wine and not the label."
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