"We stand only for ourselves"

Bouvet-Ladubay is one of the largest producers in the French Loire Valley. At its headquarters near Saumur, the family-owned company produces six million bottles of bottle-fermented sparkling wines, i.e. Crémant de Loire, every year. In 2021, the house celebrated its 170th anniversary. Juliette Monmousseau, who studied graphic design, took over responsibility in 2015 as the daughter of the owner family and has been working as the director of the Maison since then. She draws a bridge between tradition and today: "Our history begins with a love story, that between Etienne Bouvet and Célestine Ladubay. Etienne was already very caring towards the workers, built shelters for them and looked after them. And that has remained the case until today. We belonged to the Taittinger Champagne House from 1974 to 2006 and then to the United Breweries Group in India until we bought it back in 2015, but we have always remained a family business. It is important to us that our winemakers do a very good job and provide us with the best musts and base wines. And we feel responsible for them. Maybe that's why many winegrowers' families have been working for us for generations."

The Germans like the style of our Crémants

In 1975, the AOP Crémant de Loire was approved. In the same year, Bouvet-Ladubay started selling it in Germany for the first time. Juliette Monmousseau on the entry phase: "Germany, with its preference for sparkling wine, was an interesting future market for us. The Germans like the style of our Crémant de Loire, which are also very inexpensive. Wine should not be too expensive in Germany. But tourism has also helped us in this."

After the stagnation caused by the Covid19 pandemic, wine tourism on the Loire is currently growing strongly again. According to figures of the Interloire trade association, 24 percent more visitors came to the region in 2021, namely 1.6 million. Likewise, the turnover from wine tourism increased by 24 percent to 82 million euro, the second best result after 2019. After Britons and Belgians, Germans are the third most important group of visitors from abroad. Apparently, more visitors also appreciate the Crémant de Loire. Thus, the turnover per purchase in the area increased from 95 euros in 2019 to 103 euros in 2021.

Juliette Monmousseau confirms the regional trend also for her company: "We can be found in specialised trade and in restaurants. We have made the experience that when people could no longer go to restaurants because of Covid, they ordered much more Crémant privately. We also benefited from our reasonable prices." Currently, however, Bouvet-Ladubay is also affected by the Europe-wide shortage of material for production despite high demand: "We had to limit the number of deliveries for the first time ever because demand was so high and unpredictable."

We have given up comparisons with Champagne

Every sparkling wine has to put up with comparisons with Champagne - even those from the Loire. The production conditions are not very different either. The Saumur area offers limestone weathered and slate soils. The climate is influenced by the Atlantic, with mild winters and temperate summers. But while Champagne producers only have to pay over five euros for a kilogram of grapes, a bottle-fermented Crémant from Bouvet-Ladubay can be had for as little as 13 euros. Does Juliette Monmousseau see crémant as competition to Champagne? Not any more, she explains: "Champagne, with its great names, innovations for sparkling wine production and so much history, is a treasure for France and the world. But in recent years, the businesses of other regions - including those of the Loire - have given up comparing themselves to Champagne. It was different for a long time, when prices for sparkling wine were dependent on Champagne prices. Today, this influence no longer exists. Whether it's Winzersekt in Germany or the VDP with its own sparkling wine category: everyone is putting more focus on quality. That has changed the market. In the meantime, we only stand for ourselves. We are just a small spot, and there is room for everyone."

Cuvée Saphir instead of Saphir Ring

The Loire is considered a centre of the French natural wine and organic movement. It's also a big issue for Bouvet-Ladubay with its 100 or so grape producers, the director emphasises: "All our must and base wine suppliers practice green viticulture. We are supporters of the National Forest Office and have been promoting the planting of trees in the local forests for six years. As a partner of a boat that uses only green energy, we support research for emission-free transport. We always want to act in a progressive way," Juliette Monmousseau emphasises.

40 years ago, she says, sugar was still added to the barrels, i.e. chaptalised, so that the wines would have more alcohol after fermentation. "We don't do that anymore because the grapes are getting riper." What does she see as the biggest challenges for the future? "The same as for all wineries: the drought, the energy issue, the water problem. It means being careful with all resources."

But their commitment goes beyond environmentally friendly wine production: "We see ourselves as part of our region. That's why we also run a centre for contemporary art and operate a theatre that we use for performances and concerts."

When asked which wine she toasted the 170th anniversary with, Juliette Monmousseau tells an anecdote from her family history: "With the Saphir Saumur brut, because it is of central importance to Bouvet: My father gave my mother an engagement ring with a sapphire. However, she lost it while water-skiing on the Loire. There it now rests at the bottom of the river. As a result, my father created the Cuvée Saphir for her."