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In Courmas, Yann Alexandre is the worthy successor to Desire, his great-grandfather, whose portrait treasures.
- Désiré Alexandre.
- Yann’s great-grandfather.
- Had some vines.
- It was he who began to sell the first bottles of champagne under Alexandre’s name in 1933.
- His sons.
- Gaston and Marcel (the latter being Yann’s grandfather).
- Continued what their father had started and developed the vineyard and the family brand.
- Yves Alexandre.
- Yann’s father.
- Came to the farm in the mid-sixties.
- It was he who.
- Sensing the rise of the wine industry.
- Gave the company its modern foundations.
- He expanded.
- Dug a cellar.
- Installed a press.
- Built a cellar.
- “My father has always reinvested in the company.
- ” explains Yann Alexandre.
- Who.
- As a result.
- Now has high-quality operational tools.
- It produces between 25.
- 000 and 30.
- 000 bottles per year (30% of which are exported to Europe.
- The US and Japan).
- Or approximately half of the production capacity of the 6.
- 5 hectares that it operates in nine municipalities and thirty plots.
- Therefore.
- For the last fifteen years.
- He has sold 50% of his grapes to Krug and Gosset houses.
- Which we know joke very little about quality.
- From now on.
- You want to develop the commercial part of your company to sell.
- If possible.
- All your production.
- But.
- As there is a but.
- Your BSA is at least five years in the cellar.
- Which is not often with an independent vintner.
- You must accumulate five years of stock.
- And still find the necessary space.
- Yann Alexandre is giving himself ten years to achieve or get closer to this goal.
In the production of your wines? Yann Alexandre ensures every detail “so that each of them is a pleasure for those who taste it”.He defines the process: the balance between the soil and the plant, the work of the soil, the choice of varieties and their behavior according to the terroir?human intervention, at every step, for precision?the importance of following the daily evolution of the plant, like a garden?the maturity and condition of the fruit before pressing, to be in the most precise of the grape variety and its terroir?winemaking plot to distinguish each potential of each wine?a sum of details that make sense when assembled and that constitute my sense of balance.
Like many manipulative collectors, Yann Alexandre faces the difficulty of finding new outlets for his production. Growing, winemaking, selling, and shipping are time-consuming to say the least, and commercial prospecting becomes a puzzle to organize. This is where the General Wine Growers Union comes in to promote “Champagnes de Vignerons”. “The SGV regularly invites us to participate in the meetings it organizes between producers and potential customers, both in Paris and abroad”, explains Yann Alexandre. The SGV thus groups the organization of meetings, structures trips and meetings according to the types of target markets of the participants. “The SGV has the capacity to put 50 winegrowers in contact with 20, 40, 60 wine professionals. Then, is it up to us to do? Our market? Frankly, such an organization is itself a real profession and I’m very happy to have SVG’s support because I don’t think I could do it on my own. or at what price The price, precisely, and to speak very specifically, is also a fundamental factor. A trip under the SGV, all inclusive, costs the Courmas winegrower between 3,000 and 5,000 euros depending on the destination. “Of course it is a sum, but it is not excessive because, if I had to go alone, I consider that it would cost me 3 to 5 times more. Yann Alexandre tries to “make” a country every year, either on site or by meeting potential clients in Paris, depending on the opportunities. “For me, this is one of the tools to use to sell our champagne, and the SGV perfectly fulfills its function of helping winegrowers. And then in these meetings, we are all housed in the same boat and there is no distinction between? Little? and? big? : everyone benefits in the same way. “