NEWS 2019 and 2020
° Vintage 2019
° Evening in Bruignac of the Commanderie de Bordeaux de Quebec
° Auction of Foundation Michel Sarrazin of Quebec City
° Visit with Jacqueline and Bruce Gupton in Gordonsville (Virginia- USA) Feb. 2019
° Bruignac and food pairing dinners in New York in February 2019 and 2020
° Exceptional afternoon in Bruignac on 18th of May 2019
° Saint-John the Baptist Day in Bordeaux on 24th of June 2019
° Saguenay Festival of Wines in Chicoutimi (Quebec) on 12th and 13th of July 2019
° Bruignac Celebrates Wine at Cercle de la Garnison on 21st of August 2019
° Bordeaux Celebrates Wine in Old Port of Quebec City (22-25 August, 2019)
° Bruignac Tasting at Calvert-Woodley in Washington DC on 7th of September
° Harvest 2019 in Bruignac of the winner of the Auction of Michel Sarrazin Foundation
° Punitive tariff of 25% on French wines in the USA
° Confinement in Bruignac
° Recent rewards and medals
Vintage 2019 :
Another not so easy year : freezes on May 7th and 8th and we lost about 20% of the future crop. We were not able to harvest the regrowth following the freezes (lack of maturity).
But if the quantity is low, the quality is excellent. Our tastings of the Premium 2019, which is still aging in the casks, show a very promising vintage. To keep track.
Evening in Bruignac of the Commanderie de Bordeaux de Quebec :
On the 13th of September 2018, twelve Commandeurs of La Commanderie de Bordeaux de la ville de Québec, led by Céline Saucier, Grand Commandeur, were in Bruignac for a guided tour of the château, the gardens, the winery and a food and Bruignac pairing dinner that included wild boar and truffles of Bruignac.
We were delighted to thus receive our very good friends from Quebec City, grand amateurs of Bruignac. A delightful evening!
Auction of Foundation Michel Sarrazin of Quebec City :
On the 24th of October 2018 a fund-raising event was held for the benefit of Foundation of Maison Michel Sarrazin for palliative care.
An auction closed the event. We had given to the Foundation a 3-day stay in Bruignac to take part in the 2019 harvest. This stay is the lot that raised the most at auction ($6000).
Yvon Charest, President and General Manager of Industriel Alliance, and his spouse Hèléne Costin made that generous contribution. They were in Bruignac in October 2019.
° Visit with Jacqueline and Bruce Gupton in Gordonsville (Virginia- USA) Feb. 2019 :
Jacqueline and Bruce Gupton, former owners of Bruignac (1992-2001) invited us to pay them a visit at their domain of Gordonsville (Virginia, USA). They are honorary members of Association of Friends of Bruignac. Their nine-year ownership and the renovations they did show their great appreciation of the property.
Their new property in Gordonsville (Rocklands), magnificent colonial Virginian estate has been renovated superbly (4 years of work).
In addition, they completely renovated downtown Gordonsville, including a restaurant Le Rochambeau. Having hired a two-star Michelin Chef, the restaurant is becoming the best table in Virginia. We had a fantastic stay.
° Bruignac and food pairing dinners in New York in February 2019 and 2020 :
We continued our annual wine tastings and dinners of February in New York City in 2019 and 2020. After a late afternoon gathering at Verve Wine, fine wine store in TriBeCa, we had a food and Bruignac pairing dinner at Restaurant Marc Forgione, young talented American Chef (Michelin).
Our friends and clients were numerous and very pleased by the evening.
° Exceptional afternoon in Bruignac on 18th of May 2019 :
On the 18th of May 2019 we organised an exceptional afternoon in Bruignac :
° Three workshops running three times in parallel : historical and architectural tour,
garden visit, vines and winery tour, wine tasting.
Great success (65 participants), very high level of satisfaction and many purchases.
° Saint-John the Baptist Day in Bordeaux on 24th of June 2019 :
On Sunday 24th of June 2019, as every year, l’Association Bordeaux Gironde Québec, led masterfully by Michel Cotnoir and Jocelyne Saumon, his spouse, celebrated the Saint John the Baptist day with friendliness and stamina. Bruignac wines (Donjon and Premium) were part of the celebration.
Thank you Michel and Jocelyne.
° Saguenay Festival of Wines in Chicoutimi (Quebec) on 12th and 13th of July 2019 :
On the 12th and 13th of July 2019, Louise-Aimée Dufour was invited as Guest Vintner of the Event, which attracted 40 000 participants.
General and VIP presentations and wine tastings were interspersed over the two days as well as numerous tastings on the kiosk of Importation Vineron, our agent in Quebec.
Family and friends were present. Important sales of Bruignac wines took place.
° Bruignac Celebrates Wine at Cercle de la Garnison on 21st of August 2019 :
On the 21st of August, in preview of Bordeaux Fête le Vin à Québec, we organized a grand evening au Cercle de la Garnison de Québec, most exclusive private club of Quebec City.
After a drink in the gardens, and a food and wine pairing dinner, including Bruignac wines, we offered to the participants a concert by Paule-Andrée Cassidy, our niece. It was a great success : 80 participants a waiting list of 35 persons.
° Bordeaux Celebrates Wine in Old Port of Quebec City (22-25 August, 2019) :
We were, at the end of August for 4 days, to present and do tastings of our wines, in the kiosk of red Bordeaux and Bordeaux supérieur at Bordeaux Fête le Vin à Québec. Lots of guests. Wonderful weather and fireworks contributed to generate traffic.
There were lots of young amateurs well educated in wines and eager to discover the diversity of Bordeaux and Bruignac wines.
° Bruignac Tasting at Calvert-Woodley in Washington DC on 7th of September :
We were in Washington DC on Saturday September 7th afternoon to present and do tastings of Bruignac Premium 2015 and 2016 to the clients of Calvert-Woodley, a prestigious wine store on Connecticut Avenue with an exclusive client base. CW has been selling successfully Bruignac wines for several years. Great success that we plan to renew in 2020.
° Harvest 2019 in Bruignac of the winner of the Auction of Michel Sarrazin Foundation :
Yvon Charest and his spouse Hélène Costin, who had so generously given to the Michel Sarrazin Foundation in October 2018 and won the prize of a stay to take part in the harvest of 2019, were in Bruignac from the 3rd to the 6th of October.
They were marvellous guests and joined by a surprise common friend Charles Skrzynski who knew Yvon from their reassurance careers : small world indeed.
° Punitive tariff of 25% on French wines in the USA :
In retaliation to subsidies to Airbus, the World Trade Organization authorized the USA to put in place a 25% tariff on French wines. This is very punitive.
To keep our US markets we reduced our ex-winery prices and shared with our US importers and consumer clients this increase. For how long? The WTO will soon render a ruling about US subsidies to Boeing.
° Confinement in Bruignac :
Since the 15th of March we have lived the confinement/ deconfinement in Bruignac.
Work in the vineyard has been as usual : spruce and bud removing, replacement of dead vines,
mechanical (stem cutting) and phyto treatments.
Export, after a lockdown of 6 weeks, has restarted : Barbados, USA and Switzerland. Canada is at a standstill.
Sales to French consumers never stopped. But sales to wine stores are slow, while sales to restaurants are only restarting now as they are authorized to reopen.
° Recent rewards and medals :
Our wines have recently obtained the following rewards and medals :
° Donjon de Bruignac, AOC Bordeaux rouge 2017 :
– Gold Medal (91) at Los Angeles International Wine Competition 2019
– Gold Medal Sakura Awards Tokyo (Feb. 2020)
– Selection of Wine Kingdom Tokyo rated 89 (Mar. 2020)
° Bruignac Premium, AOC Bordeaux Supérieur rouge 2016 :
– Rating of 91/100 and Editor’s Choice of The Wine Enthusiast of New York (Nov. 2018)
– Silver Medal at Sakura Awards of Tokyo 2019
– 2 étoiles et un coup de cœur in Guide Hachette 2020 (Sept. 2019)
° Bruignac Premium, AOC Bordeaux Supérieur rouge 2017 :
– Selection (14.5) of Guide Bettane et Desseauve 2019
– Gold Medal (90) at Los Angeles International Wine Competition 2019
– Rating of 89/100 by The Wine Enthusiast of New York (Nov. 2019)
– Selection of Wine Kingdom Tokyo rated 91 (Mar. 2020)