AUTHOR: Dave McIntyre TITLE: French wine's PR push DATE: 11/03/2005 11:19:00 PM ----- BODY:

If you live in the Washington, New York or Chicago areas, or in south Florida or California, you’ve probably heard radio ads extolling French wines. These are part of the first major U.S. promotional campaign by the French wine industry and Sopexa, the French trade association for promoting food and wine products. So what’s the big deal? Well, isn’t it sort of a given that French wines are good? Why the need to promote them? “A lot of people recognize that French wines are great, but on the other hand there’s an idea out there that French wines are all expensive and there are no value wines to compete with Australia and California,” says Sheri Sauter, the Durham, North Carolina-based Master of Wine and perky spokesperson for the campaign. The promotional blitz is meant “to connect with consumers and remind them that French wines are good and let them know that the French are also aware of the American consumer’s need for great everyday wines for the dinner table.” In recent years, the French have lost market share in the United States and Britain to Australian and American wines. The French are also still stinging from the anti-French sentiment of two years ago in the buildup to the Iraq war, when French wines were ceremoniously poured into sewers and toilets by American “patriots.” Sauter chose 45 wines for the campaign, emphasizing value pricing, a geographical mix, and modern labeling and packaging (including varietally labeled wines and bottles with screw caps) to show that France doesn’t just make expensive wines for old fogies. You can find out more about the campaign and the wines, as well as how to enter Sopexa’s contest for a free trip to France, at http://www.wines-france.us .

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