Bordeaux will « fête le vin » in Quebec in 2012

After its success in Hong Kong, Quebec is soon to host this popular wine event . The Bordeaux festival concept continues to please and to sell itself abroad.

Régis Labeaume, Mayor of Quebec, plans to « fête le vin » on the banks of the Saint Lawrence river. ERIC DESPUJOLS
Bordeaux fête le vin, France’s first wine tourism festival, which took place from Thursday to Sunday, has enjoyed a spectacular success both in
scope and on the attendance front. 400,000 visitors had been expected, but by yesterday the organisers were estimating that the 450,000 mark had probably been reached, even exceeded.

In this immense crowd, some 50,000 people (again a record number) had adopted the tasting principle, using a glass provided in its little ‘Bordeaux red’ shoulder pouch and a book of 12 wines to discover.

On a similarly positive note, this year has seen a far greater participation by visitors both from abroad and all the regions of France. The festival has definitely become a fixture among the major popular events, while proving to be a real attraction and a boost for tourist activities in the Bordeaux region.

Most interesting of all, Bordeaux fête le vin will soon have more than one offspring. The Chinese were the first to take up the idea with the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival last year. Now Quebec is to be the second, as Régis Labeaume, Quebec’s mayor, confirmed yesterday morning, by asking Bordeaux Major Events and the interprofessional Council of Bordeaux Wines to organise a Bordeaux fête le vin III, in September 2012, on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River.

This event will also celebrate 50 years’ of twinning between the cities of Bordeaux and Quebec.

A New Dimension .…

Bordeaux fête le vin has earned approval as a great international festival. This bodes well for the future.

Yesterday, despite the heat, the Bordeaux quayside was packed. Photo Fabien Cottereau Sudouest

Bordeaux fête le vin came to an end last night with a very positive conclusion. As Stéphan Delaux, President of Bordeaux Major Events sums up: “The festival has taken on a new dimension this year, on both national and international levels.”

Not only an increased number of visitors converged from all the regions of France, but many more arrived from abroad. The event has won its place in the calendar of great theme festivals and its originality is such that people have travelled hundreds of kilometres and boarded flights, to take part in it. This was inconceivable a decade ago.

1,500 000 people over four days

Bordeaux Grands événements (BGE) estimates the number of visitors over the four days at 450,000 even 500,000,

“It’s difficult to estimate but there have been overwhelming crowds on the quays and the figure we have announced has not been contested by the police. If it’s not the case, it can’t be that far off” explains BGE director Laurent Maupilé.

2 Visitors very eager to learn

50,000 people wandered up and down the walkways with their “Tasting pass” which included a wine glass, in its red shoulder pouch, and a booklet. The number of tasting passes sold was considerably higher than two years ago, largely due to the new Duo formula (a pass for two – which accounts for one third of the sales). Visitors did not just come to drink, but learn how to taste and discover the vineyards in the process. The Wine School was so crowded that it was unable to meet the demand. They welcomed 2,290 people during the first three days and, yesterday, the workshops were once again “a sellout.” 700 people also took part in the eleven ‘vineyard discovery’ circuits proposed by the tourist office.

3 General approval of the new location

This year, the festival had been moved from the Place des Quinconces to stretch out over two kilometres of quayside. Many approved of the improved spacing and positioning of the tents, with wider walkways in between. This particularly pleased François Parrot, the festival’s technical director, even though he believes further improvements can be made for 2012. This would include doubling the length of the tasting pavilions, so visitors could get to the counters more easily.

4 Gastronomy : a cherry on the cake

The real cherry on the 2010 festival cake was the larger breathing space given to both regional products and the great chefs’ gastronomic creativity.

The “Passions Étoilées” gala dinner, with its 600 guests and more than 100 wines tasted, demonstrated just how far you can take the party mood. The “Harmonie 1855” exhibition ingeniously presented three creative concepts in one : barrel-making, the ‘savoir-faire’ of the classified châteaux of 1855 and that of the very great chefs. This is certainly worth repeating.

5 Marciac jazz and Bordeaux linked to last

The gala evenings were also much improved compared to those of the last festival edition. A more pleasant atmosphere was created thanks to top class musicians and a better-suited open-air theatre in the Place des Quinconces. A repeat of the Bordeaux music festival is very likely. With the same sponsors, Jazz in Marciac and Bordeaux Great Events agreeing to work together in the long term, this can only be good news.

6 Bordeaux-Québec : satisfied twinned cities

More than ever this year, the well-founded formula “Guest City of Honour” was greatly appreciated, deepening as it does the relationships of capitals twinned with Bordeaux, through meetings and new joint projects.

Yesterday, Régis Labeaume, Mayor of Quebec publicly confirmed what he had already told Sud Ouest exclusively on Saturday. He has decided to hold a “Bordeaux fête le vin” event in Quebec and has asked Bordeaux Major Events and the CIVB to organise it in September 2012.

It is in such ways, that the idea of this festival pleases and attracts and is unquestionably one of the reasons for which there is, and there will always be even more visitors.