The CIVB (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux), the leading French wine trade association, held its General Assembly recently.
Its members, including 25 winegrowers (designated by the Fédération des Grands Vins de Bordeaux) and 25 négociants (designated by the Fédération des Négociants de Bordeaux & Libourne), elected Bernard Farges as president.
In accordance with the CIVB’s statutes, winegrower Bernard Farges will head up the Bordeaux council for a three-year term. He took over from négociant, Allan Sichel.
Bernard Farges, born in 1965, is a co-op winegrower partnered with his brother and nephew in Mauriac in the Entre-deux-Mers region of Gironde.
He previously chaired the CIVB from 2013 to 2016, as well as the Union of AOC Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur wines.
As an avid defender of AOC wines, Bernard is currently president of the CNAOC (National Confederation of producers of Appellations of Controlled Origin wine and spirits) and EFOW (European Federation of Origin Wines).
“The priority during my term will be implementing the trade’s strategic plan, Bordeaux Ambition 2025: the commitment to a collective CSR approach, guiding the trade economically, and reinforcing the Bordeaux brand, by going and showing all the markets, whether near or far, the diversity of the men and women who make Bordeaux what it is, like the diversity of our wines.The human factor has to be at the heart of our actions,” he said.