Wine's world

As every year, several castles have changed hands. Surprisingly, in 2019, the main transactions will concern the southern Medoc crus:

- Ch. Dauzac (5th grand cru classé de Margaux) bought at the beginning of the year by the Roulleau family (cleaning company SAMSIC),
- Ch. Cambon La Pelouse (Haut-Médoc) bought by an Australian wine giant, TREASURY WINE ESTATE,
- Ch. La Tour de Mons (Margaux) bought by the Perrodo family (Ch. Labégorce, Ch. Marquis d'Alesme),
- Ch. Lamothe-Bergeron (Haut-Médoc) purchased at the end of November by the CAPSSA provident fund,
- Ch. Cantenac-Brown (3rd grand cru classé de Margaux) has just been bought by the LE LOUS family (URGO bandages).

In its special edition "Bordeaux beyond prejudices" of November 2019, the Revue du Vin de France presents the distribution of areas under organic cultivation (or in conversion) in the main French vineyards:

•     Jura: 24.4% (476 ha)
•     Corsica: 23.6% (1,454 ha)
•     Rhone Valley: 20.8% (14,393 ha)
•     Alsace: 17.1% (2,674 ha)
•     Roussillon: 16.1% (4,263 ha)
•     Southwest: 14.3% (7,575 ha)
•     Loire Valley: 12.7% (7,298 ha)
•     Savoie: 11.1% (233 ha)
•     Languedoc: 10.9% (26,871 ha)
•     Bordeaux: 10.3% (10,817 ha)
•     Provence: 10% (2,674 ha)
•     Burgundy: 7.8% (2,300 ha)
•     Beaujolais: 6.8% (1,120 ha)
•     Champagne: 2.6% (875 ha)

Bordeaux, despite its oceanic climate, is close to the national average (12%), has one of the 3 largest organic vineyards (behind Languedoc and the Rhône Valley) and currently has more than 700 organic estates.

An opportunity to recall that France, with 83 000 hectares under organic cultivation, is currently the third country in the world for organic viticulture.

After taking 40% of The Wine Advocate, the magazine founded in 1978 by Robert Parker, in 2017, Michelin has just increased its stake to 100%, with the aim of becoming the leader in food and wine reviews.

The worldwide distribution of the magazine will certainly increase, and so will the concern about standard and consensual ratings (see the departure of Antonio Galloni in 2013 and Neal Martin in 2017).