Despite the wine crisis, the 47th Young Farmers of Gard wine competition is already showing great promise

In these times of wine crisis which will manifest itself in a mobilization in Nîmes on Monday November 18, the Young Farmers of Gard wine competition comes like a nice breath of fresh air. The general public and amateurs can already register to participate in the free tasting (there will be 150 of them in total) of the 700 to 800 samples taken from around a hundred cellars in the department. “This is our flagship event. In a context of wine crisis, we highlight the work that is done with high-level products”underlined JA president Romain Angelras.

They will be discovered anonymously on the day of the competition, which will allow gold, silver and bronze medals to be awarded with great benefits. These medal-winning wine growers will be able to participate in the next Agricultural Show in Paris.

Michel Hermet godfather

“For the first time, we wanted to highlight sparkling wines and there is a label competition in partnership with independent winegrowers”confides Pierre Vidal who is organizing this 47th competition which will be sponsored by the restaurateur, sommelier and winemaker Michel Hermet. It was in his Nîmes restaurant, the Wine Bar, that he hosted the presentation of this event this Wednesday morning.

He insisted that he was “very attached to the culture of wine. When I see the foreigners having fun here discovering our wines and the locals losing interest… Wine is the pairing with gastronomy, it brings pleasure, appeasement. Behind a vintage, there is a story, that of winegrowers. It's cultural.

The president of Nîmes Métropole Franck Proust and one of the vice-presidents Michel Verdier were keen to affirm this attachment to wine production. “It is in difficult times that we must be there. The sectors must be supported. It takes courage to be a farmer”, notably launched the president of the Agglo, one of the partners of the competition with the City. This, represented by the elected Dominique Lacambra, “works hand in hand with the agricultural world”.

The Department, the Region, the Gard Chamber of Agriculture, Bienvenue à la ferme (which will provide the buffet), are also part of the list of those who contribute to the success of the operation.