François Chidaine, a leading figure in Loire viticulture, has resigned from InterLoire’s executive claiming the organisation is incompetent and bureaucratic.
François Chidaine [image: jimsloire.blogspot.com]
Chidaine cited fundamental disagreements with InterLoire, which promotes the wines of the Pays Nantais, Anjou-Saumur and Touraine.
‘InterLoire’s budget is €8.5m and the return is not very good – the money is misused,’ Chidaine, who has vineyards in Montlouis, Touraine and Vouvray, told Decanter.com.
He claimed use of a €900,000 budget to promote Touraine en primeur in November was misused as ‘the fashion for nouveau is over. There are no clear objectives and no focus. There is too much emphasis on the generic image of the Loire and not enough on the individual appellations.’
Chidaine also criticised InterLoire over its stewardship of the annual Salon des Vins de Loire.
‘The organization has become a big bureaucratic machine and doesn’t deliver value for money.’
Jean-Martin Dutour, president of InterLoire, told Decanter.com he regretted the resignation.
‘In response to the demand for change we are refocusing on the appellations in terms of promotion and in the way InterLoire works. This takes a long time but there will be results before the summer.’
Written by Jim Budd
