Winegrowing estates these days cannot content themselves just with making wine: they have to promote it as well. Émeline Cot knows all about the need to combine work in the winery with keeping abreast of trends. She is responsible for promoting the Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux wines from the family estate, Château Siffle Merle.

Promoting the result of passion and expertise

Émeline Cot joined the family business in 2006. While still at college studying international business, she would work at the château during the holidays. “I got to learn things at the grassroots and I enjoyed it.” She then moved onto a work/study course in wine and spirits marketing, continuing to live with her parents. It gave her an opportunity “to see how a family business works“. She also started “to develop the export side and sales to wine professionals”. It took time, but drawing on that experience Émeline is now responsible for marketing and promoting Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux wines at Château Siffle Merle.

Changes in how wines are promoted

Having grown up on a wine estate, Émeline Cot has been able to see how wine promotion has changed. “There’s always a need for renewal“, she says, and drinkers’ expectations are constantly evolving. “You have to adapt.” But change does not mean abandoning values: “We keep a traditional image of the terroir, of our passion as a family”. Promoting their wines also means listening to wine-drinkers, who “like to meet the people who make the wine. That’s something we realise at wine fairs”, says Émeline. She and her parents enjoy discussing their wines with wine-lovers: “They can see that when we talk about our wines, it comes from the heart!”

A Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux estate that has adapted to change

Tradition is in the blood at Château Siffle Merle. But there’s no hesitation about using modern marketing methods: “I’ve had a Facebook page for a year now. I post news about what’s happening, the medals and prizes we’ve won and the wine fairs we attend, and I keep our website up to date“, says Émeline. Present at fifteen or so wine fairs a year and at evening markets during the summer and making monthly deliveries to wine shops, the Cot family spares no effort to promote its Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux wines. They also have export markets “in Japan, Malaysia and Thailand”. Firmly rooted, sure of their values, with Château Siffle Merle Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux wines can look to the future with confidence!

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Find out more about Émeline in the Blaye Friday video