“Our house has always shown the future”: Jacques Gravegeal’s roadmap in the face of the wine crisis

Jacques Gravegeal : MIDI LIBRE – J.-M. MART

Le président du syndicat des vins Pays d’Oc IGP, 13 000 vignerons et 6 millions d’hectolitres par an, estime que l’institution languedocienne est armée pour faire face à la nouvelle demande des consommateurs.

Don't count on Jacques Gravegeal to allow a climate of pessimism to settle in on the wine-growing future of Languedoc. Slightly heckled a few weeks ago by Gard winegrowers who came to express all their anger about a dying profession, the winegrower believes that we must move forward: "This house has always shown the future", he assures from the headquarters of the IGP Pays d’Oc in Lattes (Hérault) at the Manse estate which he has chaired since its creation. He who weighs, excuse me a little, 6 million hectoliters and 13,000 winegrowers. An institution as much as a source of hope for the Languedoc vineyard!

But times have changed. And this father of the restructuring of the Languedoc vineyards in the 1980s, which brought it into the third millennium, knows that a new challenge awaits him: "Wine is no longer a wine for thirst, the consumer has changed, he wants a wine that accompanies his moments of pleasure".

Wines under 5 € represent less than 2 %

A paradigm shift that requires adaptation. A new time. And Jacques Gravegeal wants to support this new shift and he exposes the figures which give a glimpse of the light: "We are equipped to respond to this new demand. Rosé, white, bag in box, bubbles… our innovations, our 58 grape varieties…"

No need to look at what was done in the 60s, "another era. Gone!", decides the winemaker. The figures today show that the largest number of consumers are ready to pay between 11 and 20 euros for their bottle, when the proportion of buyers below the 5 euros mark no longer represents that 2 %. "Large distribution, our gateway, has understood that there is money, but it also needs to change"< /em>, assures the boss of Pays d’Oc wines.