Winegrower Bordeaux
2005, Quai des Chartrons in Bordeaux: the firm Meynard & Fils, a small company up until this point well established, was in danger. Long-standing competitors in Spain were pulling prices downwards, forcing the business to rapidly find a comparative advantage. This led to the creation of solutions for automatic laying of integrated brass wire-sleeves and different designs for wines and spirits (wire-hoods, raffia-sleeves and personalised wire-sleeves)… The company offered packaging services to its customers, mainly Spanish bodegas that had conserved their original bottling methods, at a time when packaging corresponded to guaranteeing the authenticity of bottles’ contents. Halted in France since Philippe de Rothschild began estate bottling, these days this process is used mainly by cooperative cellars which appreciate the stylish, practical qualities of this type of packaging. Certain wine estates, but mainly spirits brands, also use this kind of packaging to enhance the image of their products. A stylish image, certainly leading to openings on export markets, is in effect the key to success for Meynard & Fils’ business activity; it has succeeded in breaking away from the conventional elegance of French packaging to take full advantage of the rest of the world’s keen attraction for luxury packaging. Examples such as the Yves Saint Laurent perfume Chamagne or Joy Armagnac are just some of the company’s references.
Fascinated by the United States, Patrick Meynard was contacted soon after he took over the management of his company by Francis Ford Coppola, owner of one of the leading wineries in California. For his “Diamond Collection Claret” range, the film producer wanted to use the same wire-sleeve packaging that had caught his eye on a Sauternes wine produced at the beginning of the 20th century. Right away, they established a contract for the production of 2.5 million wire-sleeves annually and the purchase of an automatic laying machine! Their collaboration still continues, ensuring a fantastic business opportunity for Patrick Meynard in the United States. Besides the USA, the company provides a large proportion of production for the southern hemisphere, from traditional raffia-sleeves to brass wire-sleeves, which have a particular success in Chile, Mexico, Spain and Italy... Meynard & Fils currently has the capacity to package 8 000 bottles per hour and generates an annual turnover which is increasing by 15 to 20% each year.
Produce a fine Médoc wine and provide it with wire-sleeve packaging: this was the unusual positioning Patrick Meynard chose when in March 2007 he bought Château Lalaudey and its vineyard of 9 hectares, with the firm intention of increasing its area under vine to 15 hectares. This was indeed accomplished in August 2007, when he found 4 hectares available for purchase on the plateau of Lalaudey. The Moulis appellation covers a total area of 640 hectares; there are forty estates and fifteen cooperative members. Patrick Meynard’s idea is to obtain an estate of a sufficiently important size so as to ensure an excellent position in the mid-term.
Patrick Meynard is aiming to ensure a higher standard for his wine, to secure one of the first three places in the appellation. For this every effort is being made: green harvests; exclusion of weed killers; selective grape sorting (two stages of sorting – mechanical and then manual, with a team of 8 staff); selection of vineyard plots naturally (vinified individually in 18 cement vats); collaboration with the finest coopers (to guarantee the very best aromatic complexity for this wine, the estate works with 10 different cooperage firms); extension of the vat house to encourage natural airing by micro-oxygenation... A special feature of this estate is the technique of carrying out maceration at cold temperature, using a refrigerated lorry regulated at a temperature of 0°C to receive the harvested grapes. The grapes are then sorted at a temperature of between 6 and 8°C, so that the grapes can be kept at a temperature of 12°C in vats. This procedure of regulating sorting avoids any problems of oxidation. Since 2008, annual production represents 60 000 bottles, for yields of 35 hectolitres per hectare.
The sales strategy consists of promoting this unique, elegant wine that is likely to appeal to a sophisticated, perhaps feminine and certainly foreign clientele, keenly aware of elegant beauty in any case. On the bottles, the meshing of the wire-sleeves, previously completely covering the bottle, is now open on labels and the complementary nature of Patrick Meynard’s activities is able to be applied. “I personally attend professional exhibitions and events: tastings for the ‘Alliance des crus bourgeois’, the Winefair in Miami, Vinitech in Bordeaux, a tasting in Geneva last November...” A mid-range wine sells for between 15 and 20 Euros. A Californian importer and a Chinese sales representative have recently begun dealing with export sales. “Miami and California are destinations with a strong Hispanic culture: they are markets with considerable potential,” underlines Patrick Meynard. The United States and South America are always a backdrop to his business and this is just one stage in the developments planned...
Meynard et Fils
133 bis, quai des chartrons 33000 BORDEAUX Tel: +33 (0)5 57 19 01 36
Fax: +33 (0)5 56 50 07 28
Château Lalaudey
Route de Pomeys
33480 Moulis en Médoc
Tel: + 33 (0)5 57 88 57 57
Fax: + 33 (0)5 56 58 06 00
Sols : Graves tertiaire d’origine pyrénéenne
Vinification : Vendanges tardives à l’optimum de la maturité
Âge moyen de la vigne : 25 ans
AOC : Moulis
Superficie : 12,5 hectares
Encépagement : 45% Merlot, 55% Cabernet Sauvignon
Elevage : 14 mois en barriques de chêne français
Dégustation : Belle robe aubergine à reflets violets ; très flatteur, rond et puissant, ample et élégant, à boire dès les premières années ou à garder quelques années. A déguster à une température de 16-17°C.
Château Lalaudey 2006
Médaille d’or au Concours général agricole de Paris 2008
Château Lalaudey 2005
Médaille d’or au Concours général agricole de Paris 2007
Médaille d’argent au Concours mondial de Bruxelles 2008
Médaille d’argent au Concours de Bordeaux – vins d’Aquitaine 2008
Château Lalaudey 2004
Médaille d’argent au Challenge international du Vin 2007
Médaille d’argent au Concours mondial de Bruxelles 2007
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