Dotting the i’s of a crisis of confidence between trading and vineyards, the leading French merchant remains inflexible: he maintains his legal attack on the organizations which demonstrated in front of his gates at the end of February.
S
Drawing on its proverbial reserve, the Castel trading group (selling 400 million bottles of wine annually for 720 million euros in turnover worldwide) settles its accounts with the 120 winegrowers and three agricultural organizations who demonstrated this 28 February in front of the gates of its headquarters in Blanquefort (an undeclared demonstration according to the Gironde prefecture) in an open letter (see box) confirming that the trade summons this June 4 before the civil chamber of the Bordeaux judicial court (i.e. the FDSEA 33, the Young Farmers of Gironde and the Viti 33 collective) to ask them for €100,528 for damages suffered (damage and operating losses).
“Is this minority of disrespectful and virulent wine growers that we have seen at work, and who, we affirm, have caused damage and harm, are the spokespersons for all of viticulture today? » poses the open letter posted online on the institutional site Castel Familial & International (bringing together Barrières Frères, Barton & Guestier, châteaux Castel, Castel Frères, Kristel, Listel, Nicolas, Patriarche, etc.). Neither signed nor dated, this text answers without surprise that ” notWe do not think so, and we firmly reject these extreme behaviors which are not worthy of our great wine family, which has until now united winegrowers and merchants. A limit was crossed on February 28 by these winegrowers, and we are making the legitimate choice to bring to justice those responsible for these acts, who will have to repair the damage committed. »
While certain winegrowers and traders are calling on Castel to cancel its legal action, to support the dialogue on fair remuneration established within the sector (notably the inter-professional meeting of April 8) and not add fuel to the fire of winegrower anger (very active in recent weeks among traders and distributors, a priori without prosecution), the Castel group appears inflexible. “No dialogue, no agreement will be possible as long as there continue to be threats not of demonstrations, but of blockages, which promise further damage, and as long as the image of the Castel company and more broadly of trading is not not restored » hammers out the letter.
mazette reproach
While discussions are taking place in the Bordeaux authorities to resolve this tension between Castel and the agricultural unions (as mentioned during the last general assembly of the inter-profession, the CIVB), it seems that these initiatives are unsuccessful, to say the least. The first French trader to announce “temporarily withdraw from all institutions in the Bordeaux wine industry, in order to make our voice and our anger heard!” » And to deliver a message that the Viti 33 Collective would not deny: “each member of the sector, and particularly our institutions, also bears a share of responsibility for the image of Bordeaux wines”. Castel continuing: “What messages do the institutions whose role is to support us carry? And of course what messages are conveyed by the media, one of which is keen to deliver a “blow” to trading? » This last remark seems to highlight the innocent title “baron of thrusting” published on Vitispherein a quirky reference to its flagship brand Baron de Lestac (as emblematic as Roche Mazet).
Sweeping in front of his door, the merchant estimates that “more than any other company, we take the full measure of this dramatic and historic crisis, which we are also going through” and which pushes “maintain our choice of pricing practices which promote Bordeaux wines, towards winegrowers, even if, we recognize, this remains linked to a very difficult market context. A choice which, today, has not been questioned by our partners. » Faced with debates on a reference price for bulk wine, via Egalim or a producer organization, Castel is politely doubtful “should we believe that the current crisis weighs solely on the shoulders of traders? That the bulk price is the only lever capable of restructuring the sector as a whole, restoring the balance of supply and demand, and of course understanding the root causes of deconsumption and the expectations of today’s consumers and tomorrow? »
Burst of lucidity
When contacted, the CIVB, the FDSEA 33 and the Collectif Viti 33 indicated that they did not wish to comment on a subject which was becoming more serious. “We always hope for a burst of lucidity” de Castel slips in a stakeholder, pointing out that “the legal drama would be negative first of all for the nasty business which mistreats small producers, it is therefore incomprehensible. » The dialogue indeed seems difficult between Castel finding himself unloved and the vineyard feeling mistreated.
To the Viti 33 collective and to all the winegrowers present in front of our doors on February 28.
You are talking about building a strong sector and sitting down at the negotiating table.
Do you think it is possible to build this sector together when in front of our doors there is a group of wine growers determined to tarnish not only our company, but also our image, as a starting point for negotiations?
How can we sit with dignity at this table when the merchant that we are, who works day after day to bring wine to life, promote it and support it among consumers around the world and in all markets, in this unprecedented crisis which is causing us affects everyone, is singled out and slandered?
Have these winegrowers come to bring a message to all the employees of the Castel company, men and women of all professions, taking care of the vines, carrying out the topping up in the cellars, selecting and tasting wines, to create labels, to work on bottling, on storage?
Did they come to tell them that we are no longer in the same family, the same sector? Did they come to prevent them from working to develop our common good? Or worse, worry them at their workplace?
Is this minority of disrespectful and virulent wine growers that we have seen at work, and who, we affirm, have caused damage and harm, are the spokespersons for all of viticulture today?
We do not think so, and we firmly reject these extreme behaviors which are not worthy of our great wine family, which has until now united winegrowers and merchants.
A limit was crossed on February 28 by these winegrowers, and we are making the legitimate choice to bring to justice those responsible for these acts, who will have to repair the damage committed. No dialogue, no agreement will be possible as long as there continue to be threats not of demonstrations, but of blockages, which promise further damage, and as long as the image of the Castel company and more broadly of Trading is not restored.
To all stakeholders in the Bordeaux wine sector
Beyond these perfectly reprehensible methods, what messages do winegrowers carry loud and clear today? So what messages do the institutions whose role it is to support us carry? And of course what messages are conveyed by the media, one of which is keen to deliver a “thrust blow” to trading?
Should we believe that the current crisis weighs solely on the shoulders of traders? That the bulk price is the only lever capable of restructuring the sector as a whole, restoring the balance of supply and demand, and of course understanding the root causes of deconsumption and the expectations of today’s consumers and tomorrow?
If the name of the Castel company of course resonates as a merchant, we have always been winegrowers and we are also merchants, and Bringing Wine to Life is our Raison d’Être. This is why, more than any other company, we take the full measure of this dramatic and historic crisis, which we are also going through, which affects us and guides our decisions.
Also, we have decided to maintain our choice of pricing practices which promote Bordeaux wines, towards winegrowers, even if, we recognize, this remains linked to a very difficult market context. A choice which, today, has not been questioned by our partners.
But we are also choosing to temporarily withdraw from all institutions in the Bordeaux wine industry, in order to make our voice and our anger heard!
Beyond the winegrowers, each member of the sector, and particularly our institutions, also bears a share of responsibility for the image of Bordeaux wines and must actively participate in the rehabilitation of the image of the trade.
