Between 16th and 18th June, the very first edition of the Bacchus Festival was organised at Valmy Castle in Argeles sur Mer (66). This festival is firmly focused on wine and food!
Organised by the Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins du Roussillon, this three-day festival brought together around twenty or so selected wine producers who were able to introduce their wines to the general public. A call for samples had also been organised to award prizes thanks to a jury of professionals in the categories of white wine, red wine, rosé wine and a natural sweet wine. Prizes were awarded on Saturday evening between two music concerts. This was the ideal chance for Diam Bouchage to award the prize for the best white wine which was won by the Domaine la Toupie, a Diam client nonetheless!
During the three days of the festival, our teams were also at hand on the castle’s grounds at a stand to show all of the challenges of corks. The idea was to spark the curiosity of the festival attendees before the concerts as to the specificities of corks manufactured in the region (sensory neutrality) and the existence of cork forests in the Roussillon! 100% of these who took part in this sensory-based experience were won over!
This was also a chance, during the first part of the event reserved for professionals, to lead a conference on cork forests and the upstream support we offer the subsidiary.
For the first time this year, we supported the Confluents d’Arts Festival organised in Bordeaux by our client Château de la Rivière. After some difficult years for the cultural sector, the Confluent d’Arts Festival pulled out all the stops with this wonderful 5th edition, held across the first weekend of July, marked by some leading artistic performances and the attendance en masse of the public. This festival allowed us to exchange with our clients in Bordeaux in a relaxing setting.
The 15th edition of Les Déferlantes Festival also took place in early July. And, in a first, this year the festival travelled to Aubiry Castle in Céret, Vallespir. This setting is brimming in regional history, and is emblematic and perfectly suited to hosting such a large-scale event. Over the four days of the festival, no fewer than 104,000 festival attendees were able to see the 55 artists on the bill!
Just as in each year, we partnered the event which took place a stone’s throw from our Céret Plant. A more luxury hosting venue was also installed on site and we were able to invite 20 clients per evening in a box located next to the main stage areas. This four-day festival was the perfect setting for discussions and to create ties with our VIP clients. It was also a wonderful opportunity to show our solid representation amongst local wine producers who partner the event and to increase our outreach in the Vallespir region.
Finally, in late July, the traditional Colmar Wine Fair was held and our distributor, Ampélys, was present on site with a stand for 10 days. As each year, we organised a PINK theme-evening in collaboration with Ampélys on the evening of 26th July. And in harmony with this theme, only rosé wine (sparkling and Champagne) was on offer for tastings.
