Mamadou Gueye, son of Dakar's leading neurosurgeon, was a scholar of Latin and Greek in his native Senegal. Sent to Nantes to prepare for one of the elite French graduate schools (the Grandes Écoles, training ground for top-level officials in government and industry), he studied international marketing ... and unexpectedly fell in love with the local wine, Muscadet. Hired by Muscadet's promotional arm, he visited Seattle regularly in the 1990's for the French-American Chamber of Commerce's annual Muscadet Festival. Four years ago he was hired away by the firm of Marcel Sautejeau (yeah, the link is down, bummer), a job that brought him back to Seattle's Fairview Club this week to rustle up an importer and local distributor. The Sautejeau family domaines produce 17,000 cases of Muscadet; the company also does export marketing for half a dozen other Loire Valley wineries.
Meanwhile, across town, Paul Beveridge had just finished bottling the 2004 Wilridge Nebbiolo, grown at Klipsun Vineyard outside Benton City and vinified at his 1,400-case winery in Seattle's Madrona neighborhood. His news: after 19 harvests he's just bought his first vineyard land, 85 acres on Naches Heights outside Yakima. Thanks to Paul's regular appearances at local tastings, Wilridge has become well-known regionally and fetches a decent price.
Everybody knows Mamadou's name back in Nantes (there aren't many high-profile Africans in the wine biz)...but it's not easy for him on the road. This visit, organized by the Loire Valley Wine Bureau for 18 producers and exporters, wouldn't have come cheap. Back in France, thousands and thousands of growers! And out here, sharp-elbowed competition for qualified distributors and sales reps willing to take on additional labels.
Paul, who used to practice environmental law, was out at Ray's Boathouse; the relaxed tasting organized by local sommelier David LeClair. No travel expenses, no customs forms, no airport hassles. A lot to be said for marketing to your neighbors.
On the other hand, just think: if everyone stayed home and drank nothing but local wine, we'd never have progressed past Nawico.
Posted by Ronald Holden at May 17, 2007 2:49 PM
The International Kitchen
Cooking school vacations in Italy, France & Spain.
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