Summer was very young at the Cité du vin de Bordeaux. At the time of drawing the first assessment of the summer season, the cultural establishment noted that it had attracted “9% of students” in July and August, “up two points compared to 2019” analyzes Solène Jaboulet, director marketing of the Cité du vin. “And that’s without counting the students of Bordeaux. “
The tasting workshops, which were a “great success” with more than 2,500 participants this summer, also brought together 75% of participants under 40 years old, and 26% of young people under 24 years old.
“Young people are interested in this culture”
So what explains this sudden rejuvenation in attendance? “Certainly, a certain number of young people, in normal times, would undoubtedly have gone abroad with low cost flights, which they were not necessarily able to do this summer, recognizes Solène Jaboulet. But it’s not just that. “
“The cultural aspect of wine seems more and more accessible to young people,” she says, “in particular thanks to a certain number of vectors which democratize this culture, I am thinking of an influencer of barely 24 years old,”
Emile coddens, a winemaker who shares his passion for wine and who has 400,000 subscribers on TikTok. Even though it has been said for years that young people are not interested in wine, that it is something for older people, we have quite a few signals that show us that young people are interested in this culture. Moreover, if the daily consumption of wine is decreasing, this is not the case for more refined consumption. “
The Belgians in force this summer
Regarding the overall results of attendance, it is “good”, according to the officials of the Cité du vin. “We are up 13% compared to last year – even if we remain below 10% compared to 2019”, explains the marketing director. This increase, compared to 2020, is mainly due to the return of foreigners. “We had as many French people this year as last summer, but 44% more than in 2019 and + 57% foreigners compared to 2020, even if they remain down by 58% compared to 2019. ”The application of the sanitary pass led the Cité du vin to“ refuse entry to 600 visitors ”between July 21 and July 31. In the end, “we estimate that the pass caused us to lose around 2,000 visitors. “
This summer was mainly marked by the arrival of Belgian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Swiss and Italian visitors. Only the British are down compared to 2020. “We had hoped that they would come back, following the lifting of the fortnight to which they were subjected until the beginning of August, unfortunately this was not the case. But all the other neighboring countries came in great numbers, the Belgians were even more numerous than in recent years. “
A Picasso exhibition in 2022
La Cité du vin hopes to confirm this fall. “When we look at the attendance in the first days of September, we are hopeful, the Americans in particular are slowly coming back at the moment, we have more Bordelais than in 2019, and we have a lot of groups too. “
To reach the widest possible audience, the cultural establishment will extend its exposure Drink with the gods until the end of the All Saints holidays. And given the success of the afterwork tastings this summer, “we have decided to step up and offer them every Thursday from the start of the school year. »These tasting sessions will be done in partnership with the Aana (Agence de l’Alimentation de Nouvelle-Aquitaine) and will focus, for example, on pairings with regional cheeses, pastries or seafood …
La Cité du vin is also preparing for 2022, with the announcement of an exhibition on Picasso, from April 15 to August 28. “We will explore the presence of wine in Picasso’s work, with the support of the Picasso museums in Paris and Barcelona,” explains Mélanie Paris, responsible for cultural programming, specifying that sixty of the artist’s works will be exhibited.