Burgundy negociants Badet Clement invest in new winery

By Arabella Mileham

Published: 13 April, 2015

Burgundy negociants Badet Clément is investing more than €6.5m in a new state of the art winery at Monze Cave, following its acquisition of the Monze Cave cooperative in January.

The move, announced last week, will boost the capacity of the Burgundy-based company, whose flagship brands including Abbotts & Delaunay and Les Jamelles, by around five times that of its existing winery in Marseillette. Once the new facility is operational, the company will combine its winemaking operations from Minervois, Corbières and Limouxin, which are currently made in several sites, into the new 50 000 hl capacity winery.

Badet Clément said the new winery would be capable of traditional vinification as well as precise and controlled wine-making techniques with sorting tables and 50 hl temperature controlled conical wooden vats or small 25 hl stainless steel tanks. This will enable it to experiment with the vinification of its top-end wines with micro-vinifications of rare grapes as well as for the prestigious Pinots Noirs and Chardonnays, it said.

It will also add an ageing cellar, an analysis laboratory, a tasting room and a cellar door shop, and intends to add a winemaker to its current team of six.

Founder Laurent Delaunay said it was logical step for the winery, which does not own its own vineyards but relies on close partnerships with growers. "This major investment is a logical development of our evolution towards the upstream sector after the signing three years ago of an important long term supply contract with several growers situated between the Aude and Hérault departments,' he said. 'It's also a fitting way to mark the 20th anniversary of Badet Clément.'

The company turned over €40.9m last year, with exports accounting for around 66%.

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