How Bibendum is bringing Bordeaux back to its rightful place
Times may have been challenging for Bibendum since the first half of 2023, but what was a largely new management team at the autumn Cellar Tasting of its Bordeaux Collection were full of optimism for the year ahead. The grandeur of Lancaster House also tends to add some feel-good factor as well as attracting a big turnout, with many lured no doubt by a Baron Philippe de Rothschild masterclass and the presence of Sandrine Garbay, the former Yquem winemaker now in the role at neighbouring Sauternes estate, Château Guiraud. Geoffrey Dean tasted the wines, met up with the new producers in the Collection, and heard about Bibendum's other educational innovations.
30th October 2024 by Geoffrey Dean
This latest Cellar Tasting event was a selection from Bibendum’s pioneering Bordeaux Collection which, as a partnership between Bibendum and leading Bordeaux estates, is the first of its kind and shakes up the selling of Bordeaux fine wine to the on-trade and independent retailers.
First launched in 2020, the Bordeaux Collection has been hugely successful, growing from an amazing initial list to one that now features some of Bordeaux’s most famous and prestigious estates, arguably making Bibendum the home of Bordeaux for the hospitality industry in the UK.
Through this collaboration, Bibendum customers are now able to buy an ongoing selection of mature wines with perfect provenance directly from Bordeaux chateaux cellars, ranging from Cru Bourgeois to First Growths, at extremely competitive prices.
Turning the tide
Rob Sandall, Bibendum’s new sales director for England and Wales, was candid in his assessment of the distributor's predicament.
“I’ve been here three months, and we have some great wines and some amazing people, and frankly they’ve had a tough time over the last 12 to 18 months,” he said. “We’ve had some challenges with service and my job’s been sorting that out. We’ve upgraded our IT system, and we moved from Park Royal to a state-of-the-art depot on the outskirts of London, at the beginning of this year, which is world-class and has increased capacity for us to better service our customers. Our vision is all about quality products, reputation and good quality customers. Although we’ve had some customer attrition, our customer numbers are ahead of where we were last year. After three months, I’m pretty happy where we’re going.”
Lancaster House - the right setting for such prestigious chateaux
Another new recruit, Yann Bourigault, the director for business development and key accounts in London and the south-east, predicted 2025 will be an 'amazing’ year for Bibendum.
“We have a new Bibendum - that’s the bottom line,” he declared. “New management, new people and, to some extent, a refreshed portfolio. We’ve had some producers leave but this has opened the door for new producers to join, some of whom are coming on board in the next few months. In terms of service, we have a new warehouse and a fleet of new electric vehicles and our vision is to be a benchmark for London. As a newcomer to Bibendum, you discover all the resources the company has. Everything is in place for us to succeed next year. We’re getting there in terms of hiring, and we are on track to open lots of new accounts next year, because we have the portfolio, and on top of that, the logistic resources.”
New additions to the Bordeaux Collection
A new addition to the company’s Bordeaux Collection is Château Haut-Batailley, whose commercial director Pierre-Louis Araud, was on hand to show both the fifth growth’s grand vin from 2016 and its appealing second label from 2019. He explained why the latter is named Verso de Haut-Batailley.
“Verso means the other side of the page, or the grand vin,” he said. “It is a fruit-forward wine while still having the structure of a Pauillac.” Like the grand vin, it was 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the balance Merlot and a dash of Cabernet Franc.
From Pomerol, meanwhile, Monique Bailly-Laborde, wife of Château Clinet winemaker, Ronan, was at Lancaster House to show their elegant grand vin Clinet 2014 (90% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cab Franc). “This was the first year we vinified in stainless steel rather than wooden vats,” she said. “I really feel that from 2014, the wine had greater purity than before.”
Sandrine Garbay - making changes at Château Guiraud
"Semillon is more the identity of what is dry Sauternes": Sandrine Garbay of Ch Guiraud
In luring Sandrine Garbay away from Yquem after nearly three decades as winemaker there, Château Guiraud signalled their lofty ambitions, which include the construction of a hotel on the estate in 2025, with completion due by 2027. The cellar will also be renovated. Garbay’s first vintage there was 2022, and she immediately made her mark by reversing the cepage of the dry white wine, which had been 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Semillon.
She explained why the latter varietal now comprises 70% of the blend.
“We have a really nice terroir which historically was producing really nice dry white wine, but Semillon is more the identity of what is dry Sauternes,” she said. “We want to make something different from what is made in Pessac-Leognan for example. We have to highlight the Semillon I think, and I am very proud of this vintage of 2022. Semillon has such a big potential for ageing.”
With global sweet wine consumption in decline, dry white production in Sauternes has taken on increased economic importance for the appellation’s producers.
“The idea of the dry white is also to show another expression of the terroir of Sauternes, and thanks to that we can go on with the production of sweet wines,” Garbay continued. “It’s a question of a balance between economic concerns and our identity and skill as sweet winemakers.”
As an icon of sweet winemakers, few can emulate Garbay for skill. On her arrival at Guiraud, she began fine-tuning vinification, introducing wild yeasts for fermentation. ”It has has made a big difference,” she mused. “More complexity, and easier to stop them as they produce not too much alcohol, and less SO2 is needed. Thanks to that, a really more enjoyable wine.” She estimated that 30-40 mg/l less sulphur dioxide is required - around 250 mg/l. Interestingly when she first started at Yquem, she revealed SO2 levels were as high as 380 mg/l.
Beautifully balanced wines have always been Garbay’s calling card.
“I am totally fond of very well-balanced Sauternes wine,” she sighed. “I am totally convinced that the future of sweet wines from noble rot is not to have too much sugar, and to put balance between the sweetness and the freshness. The residual sugar levels don’t change much - around 130g/l - but in the harvests of ’22 and ‘23 we could have had very high levels. I don’t want to go this way. There was less acidity than before, so that’s why we have to be careful with the balance between sugar and flavours. We can preserve the fruitiness of the grapes by decreasing the times of racking for example.”
While producers of still wines have been battling against the effects of global warming, Garbay thinks it has benefited Sauternes.
“It has not really been a problem for sweet wine producers,” she professed. “Until now it’s been very positive I have to say as we had more consistency in the sweetness, in the noble rot process. It was easier to concentrate the sugar. The risk is that one day we have less humidity for the development of noble rot, but that’s not the case at the moment. This year, for example, we had a lot of humidity and beautiful, very intense, noble rot. We’ve made three tris till now but will do four. The most we did at Yquem was seven in 1997. That was not possible before at Guiraud but now I’m able to do seven as we have 80 pickers which is quite huge.”
Introducing The New Bordeaux School
Garbay will talk about climate change in one of four online masterclass tastings Bibendum has set up on successive Mondays, starting on November 18 as part of its New Bordeaux School. Haut-Bailly, Lynch-Bages and Beychevelle will make up the quartet, and will each lecture on different themes, including viticultural changes, technical innovation in the winery and sustainability. The idea came from Valeria Rodriguez, Bibendum’s director of fine wine and prestige sales.
“At Bibendum, we've always been pioneers in education, winning Wine Educator of the Year at this year’s IWC,” she said. “I proposed to our training department to come up with a new Bordeaux school. We will ship samples to all attendees, who will be sommeliers or have, as a minimum, WSET level 3. It’s very exciting and the producers are very happy. I do feel Bordeaux has lost a bit of ground, particularly in the on-trade, and the goal for Bordeaux through initiatives like this is to come back to its rightful place.”