Media and brand

I brought 2 American journalists (Wine Review online) I had never met to Valandraud in Saint Etienne de Lisse then quick lunch with their French guides.
Blanc N°2 de Valandraud 2007, Valandraud rouge 2007 and 1996, Maury Thunevin-Calvet 2007 and Fine Bordeaux from Valandraud served with Truffle omelet, made with 1/3 of the huge truffle a friend gave us (who I can’t mention or he will be inundated with requests by everyone who knows him!). Our guests really enjoyed this enormous truffle, just a bit under ripe with aromas of white truffles from Alba. Truffle makes every wine taste better and it is the least of its qualities.
Charcuteries, smoked salmon, cheese and desert from Lopez – the Basque cake.

I am not sure if these journalists liked our wines but it is certain that they want to come back to go to the market in Libourne and talk about gastronomy.

We also drank during the weekend 3 de Valandraud 2002, an excellent Marojallia 1999, a good Clos D’Agon 2006 and Cazal de Roques 2001.
I had time to read the entire report by Intuition on Saint Emilion’s brand as a whole and the comment I wrote on Thursday, December 9 seems to me rather nice . Without any doubt, today, after reading the complete "audit" I have more things to say yet.... And probably even useful things.
In order not to bury a report that cost us a lot of money, it would have been beneficial to ask students (there is no shortage of business schools, INSEEC or other) to work on the same topic so they could have delved into areas that were not covered due to a limited budget? Lack of time? Some areas of research not detailed enough? Or any other reason?

Meanwhile, it is amazing that with the brand of Saint Emilion, our satellite appellations were not even included, while they carry, along with us, the privilege of having the name "Saint Emilion" attached to their towns (I didn’t see Saint Georges Saint Emilion, nor Montagne Saint Emilion, Puisseguin Saint Emilion, Lussac Saint Emilion!). They deal with the same issues as us regarding the difference in quality between the various chateaux, and with some able of earn, if possible, to be listed as classified as Saint Emilion or Grand Cru and others yet just as table wine, as in Saint Emilion.
The Grand Cru brand is not solely responsible for the lack of image for Saint Emilion. There is another, more complex problem, where the small difference in yield is one of the real factors differentiating Saint Emilion and Saint Emilion Grand Cru.
There may be issues to ask everyone who sells Saint Emilion, whether in Tokyo or Miami, and also ask Bordeaux wholesalers, French distributors, mail order websites, French wine stores in Limoges , Paris or Lyon, or even easier – the hundred wine shops in Saint Emilion!
It will be difficult to transform 5,500 hectares plus 3000 in the satellite appellations, in a coherent appellation... Such a request should be the base for a theses for a PHD written about branding. Pierre - Mary Chauvin, a new challenge?
In this glass half empty or half full, there are plenty of avenues, of omissions... At school, I was told "can do better.” A challenge for the New Year!