FEEDBACK FROM DELEGATES
The program was very complete and quite nice; it covered all the subjects after, it is sure that all the subjects cannot interest everyone.
I was more hooked on everything that was tourism, global warming, old vines, scientific research on the plant etc. etc
What was also really nice is to have had the opportunity to be with people from all over the world and to exchange with them around the Chenin, and their activities in the world of wine but the excursions in the vineyards were really nice.
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Fabien LAIN
Cocktail dinner at the Fine Arts museums
A good moment of conviviality in an exceptional place. I find it very relevant and a good omen to associate the city of Angers with the CBIC. It is a city where life is good, and which has many things to offer both culturally and gastronomically....
Conferences of Tuesday, July 2, 2019
The congress center is an ideal place to host conferences, as it is located in the heart of the city. Air conditioning and translation of the conferences put us in favorable conditions for attentive listening.
Regarding the speakers, I salute the quality of the content presented, unfortunately, the program was perhaps a little too dense. The experts sometimes ran out of time to get to the bottom of their explanations. In fact, the time allotted for questions was far too short ! It would have been ideal to have the e-mail addresses of each speaker below the summaries of their interventions to be able to deepen with them certain subjects.
I did not see the link between certain presentations and the chenin (ex : DO Mentrida in Spain, viticulture adaptation in the Mediterranean region). Despite interesting words, given the tight timing, perhaps these interventions could be removed in order to focus on those that present analyzes / trials conducted on chenin only.
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Outlook for Chenin Blanc
While white wine consumption trends are on the rise, chenin clearly has a part to play. Abroad, this is even more the case. So for chenin to continue on its way without missteps, it seems to me that a lot of transparency is needed on the type of wine produced from this grape variety (even if it means indicating the residual sugars ?)
The efforts led by Interloire, and on a smaller scale by the unions, undoubtedly offer visibility to Loire wines. Coupled with a varied wine tourism offer, these elements should play in favor of the reputation of Chenin.
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Justine Grave (Succeed Vines)
In terms of organization and logistics strictly speaking, I noticed a few small flaws or even false notes (small drinks during the gala evening for example) but this is also the lot of any new event and , on the whole, I believe that everyone will have kept a very positive image of this first congress.
Basically, I found the two days I took part in (Tuesday and Wednesday) very rich and instructive but also sometimes... frustrating. The content was so rich during the same session that some subjects could not be deepened. The tight timing for so many quality speakers gave a very fast pace to the projection of certain slides, sometimes giving the impression of quickly moving on to the next subject. But it also proves that there was material and that this congress therefore found its place.
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Christophe ANDRIEU (Cavists and Sommeliers)
The Board Members of the Chenin Blanc Association of South Africa after discussing the Congress
on the congress, every effort has been made to carry out the latter according to the rules of the art.
The interesting lectures were numerous, almost too numerous.
It is difficult to go through all of this content but the numerous information will allow you to pick up on several themes.
Perhaps, targeting only conferences that talk about Chenin and leaving more time for master classes would allow you to really meet South Africans in their specificity. This would make it possible to call up didactic experiences, content and taste knowledge about wines. Discover 300 wines in 3 days is a lot but living a taste experience makes an impression.
I was seduced by the escapades to the vineyard which certainly required a lot of preparation, there was just a little lack of water the first day…(Savennières)
In my humble opinion, the grape variety has potential and this no longer needs to be proven. The arrival of operators from South Africa demonstrates their desire to participate in future developments and their desire to share their experience. Their vision of the market came as a reminder of how much the latter is globalized and how much chenin still has a long way to go to become an even more international, universal grape variety? worldwide?
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Christelle ZAMORA (RVI - Bon Bec Bohème)