After having identified a certain number of target countries, Septimanie Export organises presentations of South of France wines in those countries aimed at key decision makers or opinion leaders in the market: importers, distributors, wine retailers, caterers, journalists; who are invited to a one or two day tasting of wines from companies that have taken art in the operation. Each bottle is numbered and the guests can taste any wines they want. Information terminals are available to provide further information on wines they are interested in and each person present is given a login and a password. When a producer’s wine has been tasted, the producer is sent a confidential copy of the contact details of their potential buyer. The number of visitors varies from one country to another, even from one town to another: in Russia last week, Septimanie Export registered 150 visitors in Moscou, 80 in Yekaterinbourg. ‘These tests are a rich source of information’, explains Robert Almaric, project manager for the wine sector at Septimanie Export. ‘We see that some wines are frequently tasted and others not at all, which alone gives us feedback on the packaging and types of wines each market is looking for’. After tasting, each visitor fills out a report with their comments on the wines tasted: yet another tool for identifying the types of wines that are sought after.

For regional companies this service is a means of testing their products on various export markets at a very low cost: 50 € per event and per sample presented. The producer selects the wines to be presented and prepares the accompanying information about the wines and the vineyard. Septimanie Export then takes over with shipping the wines, carrying out the customs and tax formalities and organising and running the tasting event in situ.
Three ‘South of France Wine Tours’ have already been held this year: the United Kingdom in February, Poland-Austria-Czech Republic in June and Russian in September. Three others have already been scheduled before the end of the year: Korea-Japan in October, Taiwan-Vietnam in November and the United Arab Emirates in December. ‘Participation varies widely from one country to another. We met 79 companies in London and only 21 in Russia. Another factor is that export markets are difficult to manage and many companies are simply not ready to take up the challenge’, comments Robert Amalric.

The result of these events is still difficult to quantify. ‘In some countries it can take from 6 months to 2 years to become referenced in a supermarket’, states Robert Amalric. ‘It is also rare to see orders placed after just one meeting’. Each of the market tests is systematically followed up by a second meeting, either at a local and established trade fair such as the International Wine and Spirit Fair in London or Prodexpo in Moscow, or by means of a visit to our region for importers and distributors organised by Septimanie Export. ‘In the event of the latter we inform the regional companies who met with the greatest success at the initial tasting event’.
This initiative is starting to bear fruit. ‘Last year we went to China and seven companies out of those who took part are now well on the way to finalising sales contracts, one of which is for a very large order of several millions of bottles’, continues Robert Amalric. ‘Also, in London, three companies found buyers. Certainly we are talking about small volumes for the moment, but we can hope to see these develop and blossom’.