News editor
Joanna
Goodman
meets Olivier
Dupré the man
in charge at
The Society’s longeststanding supplier, Champagne
Alfred Gratien and Gratien &
Meyer in the Loire

Olivier Dupré will be a familiar face
to many members who attend Wine
Society tastings. The two companies of
which he is CEO, Champagne Alfred
Gratien in Epernay and Gratien &
Meyer in the loire, have been
supplying Wine Society members with
bubbles since 1906. When Olivier
took over in 2002, he was keen to
carry on the traditions of the company.
Though Olivier was born and bred
in Saumur – prime sparkling wine
territory in the loire – he didn’t
immediately enter into the wine trade.
With a degree in electronics and
post-graduate qualifications in sales
and marketing, it was the computing
industry which first attracted him. But
he always had an interest in wine and
during a business trip to Bordeaux, a
friend in the wine trade invited him to
Vinexpo, the huge wine-trade show
held annually in the city. His eyes
were opened for the first time to the
true diversity and romance of wine.
‘I thought the wine world would be
more interesting to work in than
computers and keyboards. I was lucky,
at that time it was much easier to find
work, so quite shortly afterwards
I started work with loire producer
Ackerman.’ Olivier spent 14 years
with the company working his way up
to export director and acquiring along
the way a deep love for sparkling wine
including, of course, Champagne.
‘Our founder’s ambition
when he started out more than 150
years ago, was to make Alfred Gratien
the haute couture of Champagne.'
When the position came up to run
Alfred Gratien and its sister company
Gratien & Meyer in the loire, he was
more than ready to take up the
challenge. ‘Our founder’s ambition
when he started out more than 150
years ago, was to make Alfred Gratien
the haute couture of Champagne. It is
safe to say that this was achieved and
today it is one of the few companies
left making Champagne in the same
way as winemakers did 100 years ago.
It was exciting to take on such a
business and, together with the Saumur
operation, respect all the rich traditions
but help integrate new technology too.’
In the summer Gratien & Meyer put on a jazz festival over several nights. Members are more than welcome to come along – take along a copy of The Society’s newsletter
for free entrance!
Nicolas Jaeger, fourth-generation cellarmaster at Alfred Gratien, with his father Jean-Pierre
Epernay and Saumur are more than
450km apart so I was curious about
the logistics of looking after the two
businesses. ‘At first I used to make
sure I visited Epernay at least once a
week – the high-speed train line
(TGV) means the journey is less than
three hours. But the Jaeger family
[cellar masters at Alfred Gratien]
have been running the business for
generations and know what they are
doing. I can rely on Nicolas Jaeger, so I
don’t visit so often now. Administration
for both companies has always been
done at Gratien & Meyer in Saumur.’
‘It’s important in our
home market to innovate and this
wine is doing very nicely for us in
boutique wine shops.’
Olivier explained how the two
companies have helped each other out
with the exchange of knowledge and
expertise: ‘When I employed Florence
[Haynes] as oenologist at Gratien &
Meyer, the first thing I did was take
her to Epernay so that she could see
how things are done there.’ They now
produce a premium chardonnay/pinot
noir Crémant de loire for the French
market made in exactly the same way
as Alfred Gratien Champagne with
barrel fermentation, six months’ barrel
ageing and a further nine months in
bottle. ‘We’re very pleased with it,’
Olivier said, ‘it’s important in our
home market to innovate and this
wine is doing very nicely for us in
boutique wine shops.’
New product development is not
the sort of phrase you expect to hear
from the producers of such classic
products with long-held traditions,
but Olivier explained the importance
in the off-trade of reinvigorating your
brand and making sure that the taste
profile of your wines is still what
consumers want.
One such innovation has made its
way onto The Society’s list and that’s
the no-alcohol fizz Festillant. Olivier explained
how this product, the first of its kind
in France, came about, ‘In France it is
still the norm to serve sparkling wine
as an aperitif when you arrive at a
friend’s or in restaurants. Sales of
sparkling wines were plummeting
[something he attributes to much
stricter drink-driving controls in
France] and we needed a solution.’
Festillant has been a runaway success
and now there is a range of flavours;
the Mojito and grapefruit varieties are
particularly popular in France,
apparently. This side of the business
has grown so quickly that it now
represents a third of the business,
‘everyone has to have one good idea in
their life,’ Olivier says. It seems rather
a delicious irony that this man who
loves his Champagne came up with the
idea for non-alcoholic fizz and that
it is bringing extra funding into the
company to support the real thing!
Florence Haynes, Gratien & Meyer’s winemaker
Something that both the Loire and
Champagne houses have in common is
the reliance on bought-in grapes.
Sparkling wines are traditionally blends
and sourcing the best grapes for the
base wines is crucial for the final
quality of the wine. In the loire the
company owns no vineyards at all and
much of Florence’s work is on the
sourcing side; you need to know your
region and growers extremely well.
Gratien only works with chosen
growers in Anjou and for our
Society’s Saumur, it is the Loire’s signature grape,
chenin blanc which predominates with
a little of the red loire grape cabernet
franc, adding a fruity edge to the wine.
Our Society’s Sparkling Saumur
Rosé is made
from a blend of cabernet franc with a
touch of the more unusual loire red
grape, grolleau, which adds roundness
and charm. Both are fermented
traditionally as in Champagne and then
spend a further year ageing in bottle in
the famous tufa cellars. For our
Society’s Celebration Crémant
de Loire 2013 , the rules determining the mix
of grapes are a little more relaxed
with no upper limit on the inclusion of
‘foreign’ grapes, such as chardonnay.
Olivier tells me that they try to buy as
much chardonnay as they can (it
accounts for a mere three per cent of
total plantings in the loire) and that
they are one of only a few who source
pinot noir for their blends. The final
mix is made with The Society’s buyer
(Joanna locke MW was involved in
putting together the 2015 blend which
we will see in two years’ time) and usually includes chenin blanc,
chardonnay, pinot noir and cabernet
franc. This last grape forms the basis of
the new Gratien & Meyer Crémant
de Loire Rosé 2013 , plus a little chardonnay and
grolleau, which Joanna Locke was so
taken with when she visited the cellars
that she decided to buy some for the
current offer.
I asked Olivier if they were noticing
the effects of climate change at all and
whether the reds in particular were
benefiting. ‘We have some surprises.
This year, for example, we were eating
lunch outside in November, it was
22°C! But in general, the differences
are not that noticeable. I believe the
work of the winemakers is a more
important factor.’ Olivier says that
these are really exciting times for
the loire as they are seeing quality
increasing every year, ‘2015 will be
wonderful in the loire and Champagne,’
he added. Of course, we’ll have to wait
another couple of years, or five in the
case of Champagne, before we can
taste the fruits of 2015.
Label to celebrate partnership with Alfred Gratien for 100 years
In Champagne, Alfred Gratien does
own some vineyards, just two hectares,
primarily in grand cru sites. ‘Over the
last 10 years, little by little we have
been trying to buy small plots of vines
in the best areas, in le Mesnil and
Bouzy, for example,’ Olivier told me,
going on to explain the strategic
purpose of such purchases: ‘To make
good Champagne you need to secure
grapes from the best premier and
grand cru vineyards. We have good
contacts with growers and we lease
our vineyards to be worked by
growers who already have vines in the
best places. As well as the grapes from
our vineyards they then also supply us
with their own grapes, so for the two
hectares we lease we are guaranteed a
total of eight hectares in return.’ This
goes some way to explain the quality
behind our Society’s Champagne,
which Olivier informs me is made from
50% premier and grand cru grapes.
'We make
each grower’s wine separately and
mark each of the 1,000 barrels in our
cellar with the name of the grower and
the village the grapes came from. In
January we invite the growers to taste
the wines. It’s a matter of pride for
them.'
When I asked why the grape growers
choose to sell their grapes to Alfred
Gratien, Oliver explains, ‘It is partly
the long relationship that the Jaeger
family has with the growers, but the
growers are essentially farmers; they
want their grapes to be made into the
best wines. Because of the way we
work, using small oak barrels, we make
each grower’s wine separately and
mark each of the 1,000 barrels in our
cellar with the name of the grower and
the village the grapes came from. In
January we invite the growers to taste
the wines. It’s a matter of pride for
them.’ And because of the way Alfred
Gratien makes its Champagne they
are even considered as growers, with
the association that represents many,
Les Artisans de Champagne, even asking
them to become members!
What is clear is that the two houses,
Alfred Gratien in Champagne and
Gratien & Meyer in Saumur, under the
watchful eye of their CEO Olivier
Dupré, are in fine form. The traditions
of the founders, Alfred Gratien and
Albert Meyer, still live on, but a shrewd
eye on the modern age means that the
wines cannot fail to go from strength
to strength.
Here’s to the next 110 years of
enjoyment from the bubbles they
produce!
The view from atop Gratien & Meyer’s cellars – where you climb up to go in!
March 2016