“We sold out in two hours!” : how wine estates became essential festive places around Montpellier

La formule guinguette avec concert et dégustation est plébiscitée par le public. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

Soirées, balades, dîners étoilés… Les domaines viticoles diversifient leur offre oenotouristique pour répondre à une demande croissante.

"It’is an obligation today, not a wish…" Nicolas Viguier is one of the first winegrowers to have opened his area for tourists. With his tree houses at Domaine Saint-Jean-de-l’Arbousier, the winemaker quickly understood the public's need for nature and developed his wine tourism offering. His estate now welcomes 15,000 people every summer in Castries. In addition to its dinners "wine and food pairings" in the cellar, its seminars and other festive events, the estate is popular for its concert evenings every Friday in the summer (read opposite). The rise of food trucks has also facilitated logistics for winegrowers and contributed to the growth.

A moment of relaxation in a rural setting

Like him, Benoît Viot, president of the Pic Saint-Loup appellation, also offers "Thursdays after work" at his estate in Grabels. Nothing to do with it in terms of capacity. We meet up with friends for a drink and something to nibble on until 8pm. A diversification that goes without saying for the winemaker. "You have to take charge of your marketing. That's the strength of Languedoc", he assures us. “People enjoy spending a relaxing time outside the city in a rural setting and those who live in villages are happy not to have to systematically go into town to go out.” All in a friendly atmosphere: "You can come in groups, places are not limited, it’s not too expensive. People appreciate the tavern feel with the wooden tables…"

Le Pic Saint-Loup was a pioneer in terms of wine tourism with its Vignes Buissonnières walk more than twenty years ago. The very popular meeting is taken by storm. "We sold out the tickets in just over two hours !" That's 1 700 tickets sold  Saturday and as much Sunday. Without scruple, some even resell their place with a capital gain on leboncoin… That’s not the goal. The winegrowers are keen to use this walk as a showcase for our landscapes and our wines, insists Benoît Viot.

Gastronomic walks in the appellations

Les Vignes bandenières have spread to all the appellations: la Clape, Sommières, la Circulade des Terrasses du Larzac… The craze has further strengthened since the Covid pandemic. "This period has changed relationships and the link with the festival, explains Stéphanie Dumas, director of the AOP Languedoc. For winegrowers, wine tourism represents three things. It’s first and foremost a form of resilience at a time when selling wine requires being imaginative. This can help maintain activity for some. For others, it’s a form of diversity. The Domaine d’Anglas in Brissac goes very far with a campsite, caravans, a restaurant… Another point: winegrowers are landscape architects. They draw the reliefs by the cultivation of the vine. These events allow direct communication about wine with consumers at the estate."

A larger net margin

Direct sales also represent a real financial advantage for the winemaker. "The margin is six times greater on a bottle without the costs of distribution, delivery…, estimates Nicolas Viguier. He applies a corkage fee to pay for groups and the logistics deployed for his summer meetings. If his field allows him to think big, this is not the case for everyone, puts Benoît Viot into perspective. "Some people just balance their operations." For Nicolas Viguier, these evenings are a necessary step to "transmit our domains to our children" .

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