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87-487: Taittinger ( pronounced [tɛtɛ̃ʒe] ) is a French wine family who are famous producers of Champagne . The estate is currently headed by Vitalie Taittinger, who is the daughter of Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger  [ fr ] (born 1953), a member of the consultative committee of the Banque de France . Its diversified holdings included Champagne Taittinger, Société du Louvre and Concorde Hotels, whose flagship

174-569: A back label. Labels will also indicate where the wine was bottled, which can be an indication as to the quality level of the wine, and whether it was bottled by a single producer, or more anonymously and in larger quantities: If varietal names are displayed, common EU rules apply: The recognized wine producing areas in France are regulated by the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine – INAO in acronym. Every appellation in France

261-1034: A certain region, such as Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux and Syrah in Rhône, although there are some varieties that are found in two or more regions, such as Chardonnay in Bourgogne (including Chablis) and Champagne, and Sauvignon blanc in Loire and Bordeaux. As an example of the rules, although climatic conditions would appear to be favorable, no Cabernet Sauvignon wines are produced in Rhône, Riesling wines in Loire, or Chardonnay wines in Bordeaux. (If such wines were produced, they would have to be declassified to Vin de Pays or French table wine. They would not be allowed to display any appellation name or even region of origin.) Traditionally, many French wines have been blended from several grape varieties. Varietal white wines have been, and are still, more common than varietal red wines. At

348-515: A decline in the domestic and international consumption of French wine on to 40 liters per capita. French wine originated in the 6th century BCE, with the colonization of Southern Gaul by Greek settlers. Viticulture soon flourished with the founding of the Greek colony of Marseille . Wine has been around for thousands of years in the countries on the Mediterranean but France has made it

435-476: A greater role and aided the most heavily exposed banks. A joint deposit guarantee fund was set up in 1935. The following year, Crédit Agricole provided additional support by financing wheat stocks through discounting when the National Cereals Board (ONIC) was established. The payment mechanisms used helped to make cheques and bank accounts more popular in the countryside. Between 1939 and 1945,

522-485: A lack of training makes it harder for people with disabilities to get work, Crédit Agricole has set up work/study training programmes to enable people who have their high school diploma to receive post-secondary qualifications. The goal was to recruit more than 800 disabled persons between 2006 and end-2010, and by end-2009, more than 360 permanent contracts and 670 work/study contracts had been signed. Former Miss France runner-up Sophie Vouzelaud, who has been deaf from birth,

609-683: A much looser meaning. As European Union wine laws have been modeled after those of the French, this trend is likely to continue with further EU expansion. French law divides wine into four categories, two falling under the European Union Table Wine category and two the Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions (QWPSR) designation. The categories and their shares of the total French production for

696-537: A non-voting member and a representative of the Works Council. The regional banks own 54% of Crédit Agricole S.A., which in turn holds 25% of their capital in the form of non-voting cooperative securities ( certificats coopératifs d'associés ). An internal debate is continually underway on striking a balance between growing activities that serve the regional banks directly and promoting businesses that lie outside their sphere. Institutional investors, particularly in

783-540: A part of their civilization and has considered wine-making as art for over two thousand years. The Gauls knew how to cultivate the vine and how to prune it. Pruning creates an important distinction in the difference between wild vines and wine-producing grapes. Before long, the wines produced in Gaul were popular all around the world. The Roman Empire licensed regions in the south to produce wines. St. Martin of Tours (316–397) spread Christianity and planted vineyards . During

870-488: A red-wine region generally made from the Gamay grape. Gamay is characterized by an early ripening and acidic variety. Due to the carbonic maceration that producers use during the wine-making process Beaujolais wines are brightly colored with a low level of soft tannin. They usually have an intense fruity flavor of raspberry and cranberry. Apart from Gamay grape some white and sparkling rosé are also produced. Beaujolais region

957-509: A red-wine region in south-eastern France, along the Rhône River . The styles and varietal composition of northern and southern Rhône differ, but both parts compete with Bordeaux as traditional producers of red wines. Savoy or Savoie , primarily a white-wine region in the Alps close to Switzerland, where many grapes unique to this region are cultivated. South West France or Sud-Ouest ,

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1044-631: A renowned wine producer from Burgundy, supplied the French General Assembly with his Montrachet produced at Mont Dardon around the turn of the 20th century. Champagne , situated in northeastern France, close to Belgium and Luxembourg , is the coldest of France's major wine regions and home to its major sparkling wine. Champagne wines can be both white and rosé. A small amount of still wine is produced in Champagne using (as AOC Coteaux Champenois) of which some can be red wine. Corsica

1131-609: A revival of its viticulture . 5 villages of Ile de France (north-east of the Seine et Marne department) are part of the Champagne area and more than 200 small recreational vineyards were established in the last decades covering about 12 hectares altogether. Jura , a small region in the mountains close to Switzerland where some unique wine styles, notably Vin Jaune and Vin de Paille , are produced. The region covers six appellations and

1218-570: A somewhat heterogeneous collection of wine areas inland or south of Bordeaux. Some areas produce primarily red wines in a style reminiscent of red Bordeaux, while other produce dry or sweet white wines. Areas within Sud-Ouest include among other: There are also several smaller production areas situated outside these major regions. Many of those are VDQS wines, and some, particularly those in more northern locations, are remnants of production areas that were once larger. France has traditionally been

1305-463: A white-wine region, though some red, rosé, sparkling and sweet wines are also produced. It is situated in eastern France on the river Ill and borders Germany, a country with which it shares many grape varieties as well as a long tradition of varietal labelling. Grapes grown in Alsace include Riesling , Gewurztraminer , Pinot gris , Pinot blanc , Pinot noir , and Muscat . Beaujolais is primarily

1392-640: A wine-business in Champagne and worked closely with the Benedictine abbeys which, at that time, owned the finest vineyards in the region. After the First World War, the wine house was moved to a large mansion on the Rue de Tambour in which Theobald I of Navarre (1201–1253) had lived. A long-standing legend held that it was he who brought the Chardonnay grape from Cyprus on returning from a crusade in

1479-439: A €5.9 billion rights issue to which all the regional banks subscribed to meet Basel II regulatory requirements. It also undertook a €5 billion programme of non-strategic asset disposals. At the end of 2008, the government decided to loan France's six largest banks €21 billion in two tranches, at an interest rate of 8%, to enable them to continue to play their role in the economy. Crédit Agricole did not take part in

1566-522: Is HECA's official ambassador. The regional banks help to promote the cooperative model locally through a variety of initiatives, such as the Perspectives Mutualistes conference series (Pau in 2006, Angers in 2007, Reims in 2008, Orléans in 2009), and by issuing special bank cards for stakeholders. The Board is made up of members elected by the annual general meeting, representatives of trade organisations, members elected by employees,

1653-497: Is a société anonyme . Crédit Agricole is one of the leading cooperative companies in the world. Through an association set up to promote the employment of people with disabilities within Crédit Agricole (HECA), the Crédit Agricole regional banks devote resources to the recruitment, integration and continued employment of disabled workers. Measures include workstation modifications, transport facilities and training. Since

1740-607: Is a French international banking group and the world's largest cooperative financial institution . It is the second largest bank in France, after BNP Paribas , as well as the third largest in Europe and tenth largest in the world. It consists of a network of Crédit Agricole local banks, 39 Agricole regional banks and a central institute, the Crédit Agricole S.A. . It is listed through Crédit Agricole S.A., as an intermediate holding company , on Euronext Paris ' first market and

1827-754: Is a region where red and white wines are equally important. Probably more terroir-conscious than any other region, Burgundy is divided into the largest number of appellations of any French region. The top wines from Burgundy's heartland in Côte d'Or command high prices. The Burgundy region is divided in four main parts: There are two parts of Burgundy that are sometimes considered as separate regions: There are two main grape varieties used in Burgundy – Chardonnay for white wines, and Pinot noir for red. White wines are also sometimes made from Aligoté, and other grape varieties will also be found occasionally. Gustave Henri Laly,

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1914-402: Is an island in the Mediterranean the wines of which are primarily consumed on the island itself. It has nine AOC regions and an island-wide vin de pays designation and is still developing its production methods as well as its regional style. Île-de-France is not an official wine region anymore. Yet it has a rich history related to grapegrowing and winemaking and has recently been demonstrating

2001-451: Is defined by INAO, in regards to the individual regions particular wine "character". If a wine fails to meet the INAO's strict criteria it is declassified into a lower appellation or even into Vin de Pays or Vin de Table. With the number of appellations in France too numerous to mention here, they are easily defined into one of the main wine producing regions listed below: Alsace is primarily

2088-528: Is not an official wine region anymore. Yet it has a rich history related to grapegrowing and winemaking and has recently been demonstrating a revival of its viticulture . 40 villages of Picardy (south of the Aisne department) are now part of the Champagne area and several small recreational vineyards were established in the last two decades e.g. in Coucy le Château, Gerberoy, Gouvieux, Clairoix, etc. Provence , in

2175-533: Is one thing that most French wines have in common, it is that most styles have developed as wines meant to accompany food, be it a quick baguette , a simple bistro meal, or a full-fledged multi-course menu. Since the French tradition is to serve wine with food, wines have seldom been developed or styled as "bar wines" for drinking on their own, or to impress in tastings when young. Numerous grape varieties are cultivated in France, including both internationally well-known and obscure local varieties. In fact, most of

2262-632: Is part of the CAC 40 stock market index. Local banks of the group owned the regional banks, in turn the regional banks majority owned the S.A. via a holding company, in turn the S.A. owned part of the subsidiaries of the group, such as LCL, the Italian network and the CIB unit. It is considered to be a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board . It was the title sponsor of

2349-462: Is related to Burgundy through its extensive use of the Burgundian grapes Chardonnay and Pinot noir, though other varieties are used. It also shares cool climate with Burgundy. Languedoc-Roussillon is the largest region in terms of vineyard surface and production, hence the region in which much of France's cheap bulk wines have been produced. So-called " wine lake ", Languedoc-Roussillon is also

2436-893: Is released annually on the third Thursday of November. Bordeaux is a large region on the Atlantic coast, which has a long history of exporting its wines overseas. This is primarily a red wine region, famous for the wines Château Lafite-Rothschild , Château Latour , Château Mouton-Rothschild , Château Margaux and Château Haut-Brion from the Médoc sub-region; Château Cheval Blanc and Château Ausone in Saint-Émilion ; and Château Pétrus and Château Le Pin in Pomerol . The red wines produced are usually blended, from Cabernet Sauvignon , Merlot and sometimes Cabernet Franc . Bordeaux also makes dry and sweet white wines, including some of

2523-548: Is situated in central East of France following the river Saone below Burgundy and above Lyon . There are 12 appellations in Beaujolais including Beaujolais AOC and Beaujolais-Villages AOC and 10 Crus: Brouilly, Regnié, Chiroubles, Cote de Brouilly, Fleurie, Saint-Amour, Chénas, Juliénas, Morgon and Moulin-a-Vent. The Beaujolais region is also notorious for the Beaujolais Nouveau , a popular vin de primeur which

2610-691: Is the famed Hotel de Crillon on the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France as well as the Loire Valley wine-producing firm of Bouvet-Ladubay , and a partnership in Domaine Carneros in California . All these holdings were sold to Starwood Capital in 2005. The family re-acquired the house of Champagne Taittinger in 2006 after securing financial support from the Crédit Agricole bank and also

2697-472: Is the source of many grape varieties (such as Cabernet Sauvignon , Chardonnay , Pinot noir , Sauvignon blanc , Syrah ) that are now planted throughout the world, as well as wine-making practices and styles of wine that have been adopted in other producing countries. Although some producers have benefited in recent years from rising prices and increased demand for prestige wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux , competition from New World wines has contributed to

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2784-535: The Crédit Agricole , in collaboration with Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, bought the business for 660 million euros. The area covers 288.84 hectares of vineyards and has 12 to 13 million bottles in stock. The Château de la Marquetterie and its cellars were part of the overall purchase. The Starwood group retained some of the hotels, including luxury hotels Crillon, Lutetia and Martinez, and the hotel chains Campanile and Kyriad. Claude Taittinger retired in 2006 and his nephew Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger replaced him as head of

2871-660: The Crédit Agricole professional road cycling team from 1998 to 2008. Crédit Agricole has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in late 2014, and as a consequence is directly supervised by the European Central Bank . In the second half of the 19th century, French farmers struggled to obtain long-term, flexible, reasonably-priced credit. There were several attempts to set up farming banks, including Crédit Foncier de France in 1861, but none were successful. Crédit Agricole can trace its history back to

2958-526: The French Revolution led to the confiscation of many vineyards. The advance of the French wine industry stopped abruptly as first Mildew and then Phylloxera spread throughout the country and the rest of Europe, leaving vineyards desolate. Then came an economic downturn in Europe followed by two world wars and the French wine industry was depressed for decades. Competition threatened French brands such as Champagne and Bordeaux. This resulted in

3045-466: The Middle Ages , monks maintained vineyards and, more importantly, conserved wine-making knowledge and skills during that often turbulent period. Monasteries had the resources, security and inventiveness to produce a steady supply of wine for Mass and profit. The best vineyards were owned by the monasteries and their wine was considered to be superior. The nobility developed extensive vineyards but

3132-531: The Vichy regime imposed stricter state supervision on Crédit Agricole. Major financial developments also took place at this time, including the creation of the five-year note. To finance the post-war reconstruction and encourage the mechanisation of farming, CNCA stepped up deposit-taking to supplement the funds provided by the government. The regional banks opened many offices, with the total increasing from 1,000 in 1947 to 2,259 by 1967. In 1959, Crédit Agricole

3219-569: The goodwill on its balance sheet. Goodwill amounted to €17.7 billion in September 2012, well above the actual value. In early February 2013, the bank announced that it would book €3.8 billion in writedowns and costs – a record amount according to the media. In March 2014, the Crédit Agricole Group unveiled its medium-term strategic plan, which put the emphasis on retail banking, insurance and saving. Internationally,

3306-485: The wine lake . This has led to the distillation of wine into industrial alcohol as well as a government program to pay farmers to pull up their grape vines through vine pull schemes . A large part of this glut is caused by the re-emergence of Languedoc wine . Cr%C3%A9dit Agricole Crédit Agricole Group ( French: [kʁedit‿aɡʁikɔl] ), sometimes called La banque verte ( lit.   ' The green bank ' , due to its historical ties to farming ),

3393-401: The 2005 vintage, excluding wine destined for Cognac, Armagnac and other brandies, were Table wine: QWPSR : The total French production for the 2005 vintage was 43.9 million hl (plus an additional 9.4 million hl destined for various brandies) of which 28.3% was white and 71.7% was red or rosé. The proportion of white wine is slightly higher for the higher categories, with 34.3% of

3480-446: The 2007 harvest, the most common grape varieties were the following: The concept of Terroir, which refers to the unique combination of natural factors associated with any particular vineyard , is important to French vignerons . It includes such factors as soil , underlying rock, altitude, slope of hill or terrain, orientation toward the sun , and microclimate (typical rain, winds, humidity, temperature variations, etc.). Even in

3567-461: The 6th century BCE, with many of France's regions dating their wine-making history to Roman times. The wines produced range from expensive wines sold internationally to modest wines usually only seen within France such as the Margnat wines of the post-war period. Two concepts central to the better French wines are the notion of terroir , which links the style of the wines to the locations where

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3654-457: The AOC wine being white. In years with less favourable vintage conditions than 2005, the proportion of AOC wine tends to be a little lower. The proportion of Vin de table has decreased considerably over the last decades, while the proportion of AOC has increased somewhat and Vin de Pays has increased considerably. In 2005 there were 472 wine AOCs in France. The wine classification system of France

3741-543: The Act of 31 March 1899 instituted a commission within the Ministry for Agriculture to distribute the government advances between the regional banks, which were also created at this time. These cooperative entities brought together the local banks in their catchment area and acted as their clearing organisations . More and more local and regional banks were established from the turn of the century. Every region had at least one by

3828-672: The Act of 5 November 1894, which had the support of the Minister for Agriculture Jules Méline , paved the way for the creation of Crédit Agricole's local banks. The first local banks were set up by local elites, including agronomists, teachers, and property owners, with farmers playing a minority role. In the early years, business consisted exclusively of short-term loans provided as advances on harvests, enabling farmers to live more comfortably. Medium-term and long-term loans were added later, making it possible to buy equipment and livestock. The 1894 Act did not confer any financial advantages, and

3915-556: The Alsace region , France had no tradition of labelling wines with details of the grape varieties used. Since New World wines made the names of individual grape varieties familiar to international consumers in the late 20th century, more French wineries started to use varietal labelling. In general, varietal labelling is most common for the Vin de Pays category, although some AOC wines now also display varietal names. For most AOC wines, if grape varieties are mentioned, they will be in small print on

4002-408: The Burgundy region. The amount of influence and the scope that falls under the description of terroir has been a controversial topic in the wine industry. The amount of information included on French wine labels varies depending on which region the wine was made in, and what level of classification the wine carries. As a minimum, labels will usually state that classification, as well as the name of

4089-476: The Crédit Agricole group. The whole investment into Emporiki cost around €9 billion. The remaining Greek part was sold off to Alpha Bank for €1. Crédit Agricole also withdrew totally from Spanish bank Bankinter , resulting in a book loss of €193 million, and took a massive €600 million write-down on consumer credit, notably owing to difficulties in Italy. Furthermore, Crédit Agricole had to write down

4176-567: The French production ranges from cheap and simple versions to some of the world's most famous and expensive examples. An exception is French fortified wines, which tend to be relatively unknown outside France. In many respects, French wines have more of a regional than a national identity, as evidenced by different grape varieties, production methods and different classification systems in the various regions. Quality levels and prices vary enormously, and some wines are made for immediate consumption while other are meant for long-time cellaring. If there

4263-852: The Middle Ages. This claim has been disproved by using genetic analysis, ascertained at the University of California at Davis . The Taittingers were a family of wine merchants who, in 1870, moved to the Paris region from the Lorraine in order to retain their French citizenship after the Franco-Prussian War and the Treaty of Frankfurt (1871) . In 1932, Pierre Taittinger bought the Château de la Marquetterie  [ fr ] from

4350-763: The backing of trade organisations. Founded in 1734, the Taittinger Champagne house is based in Reims . The flagship wines of the house are the Comtes de Champagne (composed of 100% Chardonnay ) and Comtes de Champagne Rosé (70% Pinot noir and 30% Chardonnay ). In 2017, Taittinger planted its first vines in England, near a village in Kent, for its venture into English sparkling wine . The first bottle will be ready in 2023. In 1734, Jacques Fourneaux established

4437-542: The business. In 2017, it was announced that Taittinger had become the first champagne house to plant vines in the UK. Champagne Taittinger entered into a joint venture with UK wine agents Hatch Mansfield and in 2015 bought up land in Chilham, Kent, to plant 40 hectares of vines over the next three years. In October 2019 it was announced that Vitalie Taittinger would become president from December 31, 2019. She had been working for

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4524-431: The company for 12 years and was director of marketing and communications. French wine French wine is produced all throughout France , in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Spanish , chinese , Italian ,and American wine-producing regions . French wine traces its history to

4611-541: The end of the 19th century, specifically to the Act of 1884 establishing the freedom of professional association, which authorised, among other things, the creation of syndicat agricoles (farm unions) and the foundation of local mutual banks. Société de Crédit Agricole was created on 23 February 1885 at Salins-les-Bains in the district of Poligny in the Jura region . It was the first of its kind in France. Drawing on this experience to promote lending to small family farms,

4698-467: The establishment in 1935 of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée to protect French interests. Large investments, the economic revival after World War II and a new generation of Vignerons yielded results in the 1970s and the following decades, creating the modern French wine industry. In 1935, laws were passed to control the quality of French wine. The Appellation d'origine contrôlée system

4785-610: The eve of the First World War . However, the government continued to provide three-quarters of the funding, and short-term lending still accounted for the lion's share of business despite the authorisation to issue long-term loans granted by the Acts of 29 December 1906 and 19 March 1910. With some regions becoming isolated owing to the War, the need for a central bank to regulate business became more apparent, especially as Crédit Agricole

4872-524: The first retirement savings plans. At this time, many local bank directors were also directors of Groupama , an insurer from the farming sector. There was talk of a merger between the two, but this did not come to pass. On 18 January 1988, the CNCA Mutualisation Act came into force. CNCA was reincorporated into a public limited company, with a 90% stake sold to the regional banks and 10% to staff. Crédit Agricole became fully independent of

4959-500: The government gave CNCA financial autonomy. Savings inflows no longer passed through the Treasury, and CNCA was now responsible for balancing the surpluses and deficits of the regional banks. The 1971 "Rurality Act" extended Crédit Agricole's potential financing sources to rural zones and to new types of customers, such as craftsmen and food producers. Lending to SMEs and mid-tier firms followed after. The Banking Reform of 1966 allowed

5046-614: The government, putting an end to the latter's practice of skimming off surplus funds. In 1990, Crédit Agricole lost the monopoly on granting low-interest loans to farmers and one year later, in 1991, the "normalisation" process was completed as it was allowed to begin financing large corporations. International expansion continued with the acquisition of stakes in Banco Ambrosiano Veneto in Italy in 1989 and Banco Espírito Santo in Portugal in 1991. Consolidation among

5133-471: The grapes are grown and the wine is made, and the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) system, replaced by the Appellation d'Origine Protégée (AOP) system in 2012. Appellation rules closely define which grape varieties and winemaking practices are approved for classification in each of France's several hundred geographically defined appellations, which can cover regions, villages or vineyards. France

5220-503: The group adopted the slogan "le bon sens près de chez vous" ("common sense close to home"). Crédit Agricole opened its first foreign branch, in Chicago , in 1979. The group's business diversification started in the 1980s. The Predica  [ fr ] life insurance subsidiary was set up in 1986, while property & casualty unit Pacifica  [ fr ] was created in 1990. The group expanded into bancassurance, offering

5307-455: The group decided to refocus on its core markets, starting with Italy, the group's second-largest market. The Crédit Agricole Group sold its Bulgarian subsidiary to Corporate Commercial Bank for €160 million. On 22 April 2014, Crédit Agricole S.A., Crédit Agricole Nord and Crédit Agricole Nord-Est announced that they would sell 50% of their stake in Crelan S.A., a Belgian bank created out of

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5394-527: The group took a stake in the newly privatised Crédit Lyonnais , and acquired leading consumer finance company Sofinco . CNCA was listed on the stock market in 2001 under the name Crédit Agricole S.A. This gave the regional banks a listed vehicle through which to carry out major acquisitions. The group's acquisitions enabled it to strengthen its leadership in French retail banking , expand its position in corporate and investment banking and build up its international network of branches and subsidiaries. By now,

5481-658: The group was the number-one bank in France with 28% of the domestic market, the global number-two by revenues and number-ten by profits, according to Fortune magazine, and number-15 worldwide according to Forbes rankings. Although less negatively impacted than some rivals by the 2007–2008 financial crisis , when the interbank lending market seized up , Crédit Agricole was forced in January 2008 to sell its long-standing stake in Suez for €1.3 billion and then in May 2008 to organise

5568-574: The home of some innovative producers who combine traditional French wine like blanquette de Limoux , the world's oldest sparkling wine, and international styles while using lessons from the New World . Much Languedoc-Roussillon wine is sold as Vin de Pays d'Oc . Loire valley is a primarily white-wine region that stretches over a long distance along the Loire River in central and western France, and where grape varieties and wine styles vary along

5655-434: The largest consumer of its own wines. However, wine consumption has been dropping in France for 40 years. During the decade of the 1990s, per capita consumption dropped by nearly 20 percent. Therefore, French wine producers must rely increasingly on foreign markets . However, consumption has also been dropping in other potential markets such as Italy, Spain and Portugal. The result has been a continuing wine glut, often called

5742-412: The local banks soon faced financial problems, such as a lack of capital and insufficient collateral from small farmers. It was not until 1897 that the government addressed these problems by requiring the Banque de France to fund Crédit Agricole through an endowment of 40 million gold francs and an annual fee of 2 million francs. A year later, the Act of 1898 resolved the collateral issues. Meanwhile,

5829-411: The merger of Crédit Agricole Belgique and Centea, to Caisses coopératives belges by June 2015. In 2017, the group bought 3 small Italian banks. Crédit Agricole has a three-tier structure, comprising the local banks, the regional banks (and their branches and equity investments) and Crédit Agricole S.A. (and its subsidiaries). The local and regional banks are cooperative companies. Crédit Agricole S.A.

5916-459: The move to AOP will only mean minor changes to the terminology of the label, while the actual names of the appellations themselves will remain unchanged. While no new wines have been marketed under the old designations from 2012, bottles already in the distribution chain will not be relabelled. All common styles of wine – red , rosé , white (dry, semi-sweet and sweet ), sparkling and fortified – are produced in France. In most of these styles,

6003-605: The organisation to offer households the same products as those provided by competitors, including passbook accounts and home savings plans. The first subsidiaries were set up at the end of the 1960s to address the specific needs of CNCA: Union d'études et d'investissements (UI) was created in 1967 to make equity investments, followed by Segespar for asset management in 1968, and Unicrédit to grant loans to food producers in 1971. Crédit Agricole began distributing home purchase savings products from 1967, government-regulated mortgages from 1972 and first-time-buyer loans in 1977. In 1976,

6090-467: The producer, and, for wines above the Vin De Table level, will also include the geographical area where the wine was made. Sometimes that will simply be the wider region where the wine was made, but some labels, especially for higher quality wines, will also include details of the individual village or commune, and even the specific vineyard where the wine was sourced. With the exception of wines from

6177-636: The regional banks began officially in 1990, with the aim of reducing costs. The aim was to halve the number of regional banks, and that objective had been surpassed by the turn of the 21st century. In 1993, Lucien Douroux , who led the plan to mutualise FNCA, became CNCA's first chief executive officer, having been appointed by Crédit Agricole from existing staff. In 1996, the group bought Banque Indosuez and then created Indocam, an asset management subsidiary (renamed Crédit Agricole Asset Management in 1999), and Crédit Agricole Indosuez for corporate and investment banking . In 1999, diversification continued as

6264-452: The river. Four sub-regions are situated along the river: Normandy is not an official wine region anymore. Yet it has a rich history related to grapegrowing and winemaking and has recently been demonstrating a revival of its viticulture . Several small recreational vineyards were established in the last two decades and at least one operates on a commercial scale in Grisy near Caen. Picardy

6351-429: The same area, no two vineyards have exactly the same terroir, thus being the base of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) system that has been a model for appellation and wine laws across the globe. In other words: when the same grape variety is planted in different regions, it can produce wines that are significantly different from each other. In France the concept of terroir manifests itself most extremely in

6438-563: The second tranche and repaid the government in October 2009. Crédit Agricole's crisis exit strategy was well received by the markets, with the share price gaining more than 40% over 2009. In 2012, Crédit Agricole continued to report negative results, posting a loss of around €3 billion in the third quarter. The Greek branch Emporiki was separated from its profitable wealthy parts in Albania, Bulgaria and Romania which were integrated into

6525-419: The so-called " international varieties " are of French origin, or became known and spread because of their cultivation in France. Since French appellation rules generally restrict wines from each region, district or appellation to a small number of allowed grape varieties, there are in principle no varieties that are commonly planted throughout all of France. Most varieties of grape are primarily associated with

6612-578: The south-east and close to the Mediterranean. It is perhaps the warmest wine region of France and produces mainly rosé and red wine. It covers eight major appellations led by the Provence flagship, Bandol. Some Provence wine can be compared with the Southern Rhône wines as they share both grapes and, to some degree, style and climate. Provence also has a classification of its most prestigious estates, much like Bordeaux. Rhône Valley , primarily

6699-491: The then current managers of the business, were not compatible with the production of Champagne wine of quality, which takes time, trust and a large delegation of authority to the masters of the cellar. In addition, the arrival of investors completely foreign to the culture of Champagne could result in a major breakdown of the equilibrium of the industry. Finally, on 31 May 2006, the Northeast Regional Bank of

6786-451: The wine house of Forest-Fourneaux. It had been used as a command post during World War I and he had been laid up there after suffering a heart attack during combat. The vineyards of the château had been planted with Chardonnay and Pinot noir since the 18th century. This property had been developed by Brother Jean Oudart  [ fr ] , a Benedictine monk, one of the founding fathers of champagne wine, and later it had belonged to

6873-569: The wines according to a château's reputation and trading price. Brittany is not an official wine region anymore, but it has a rich history related to grapegrowing and winemaking and has recently been demonstrating a revival of its viticulture . Several small recreational vineyards were established in the last two decades e.g. in Rennes, Quimper, Morlaix, Le Quillo, Cléguérec, Sain Sulliac, Le Folgoët, etc. Burgundy or Bourgogne in eastern France

6960-531: The world's most famous sweet wines from the Sauternes appellation, such as Château d'Yquem . The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the Exposition Universelle de Paris , when Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordeaux wines that were to be on display for visitors from around the world. Brokers from the wine industry ranked

7047-570: The writer Jacques Cazotte . From 1945 to 1960 the business was run by Pierre's third son François. Under his direction, the Taittinger cellars were established in the Abbey of Saint-Nicaise, built in the thirteenth century in Gallo-Roman chalk pits dating from the fourth century. After François' death in an accident, his brother Claude took over and directed the business from 1960 to 2005. It

7134-528: Was asked to provide financing to rebuild farming operations damaged during the conflict. New legislation of 5 August 1920 established a public central clearing organisation for the regional banks: the Office National de Crédit Agricole (ONCA), with Louis Tardy as its chief executive officer, merging two services that were previously embedded in the Ministry of Agriculture . In 1926, the institution

7221-522: Was authorised by decree to finance property loans for primary residences in rural areas, irrespective of the status of the owner (even non-farmers). Crédit Agricole continued to modernise, with an influx of new managerial talent both in the regional banks and at CNCA. In 1960, Paul Driant  [ fr ] became the first Chairman of CNCA to come from a farming background. He remained in this position for 14 years. In 1966, as part of efforts to boost savings and remove Crédit Agricole from its budget,

7308-563: Was during this time that Taittinger became a champagne house of world renown. Champagne Taittinger was sold in July 2005 by the Taittinger family, along with its subsidiary, Société du Louvre , to the US private investment firm Starwood Capital Group . Those in the profession (Champagne houses, wine-producers, cooperatives, distributors and customers) proposed that the objectives of short-term profitability, or even medium term, at any price, advocated by

7395-400: Was established, which is governed by a powerful oversight board ( Institut national des appellations d'origine , INAO). France has one of the oldest systems for protected designation of origin for wine in the world and strict laws concerning winemaking and production and many European systems are modeled after it. The word " appellation " has been put to use by other countries, sometimes in

7482-426: Was renamed Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole (CNCA). In the 1920s, the bank continued to build its nationwide coverage and expand its business activities, notably by introducing loans to small-scale rural craftsmen in 1920, financing rural electrification, and financing local authorities in rural areas from 1923. Local and regional banks did not emerge from the 1930 crisis unscathed. The Caisse Nationale took on

7569-401: Was revised in 2006, with a new system fully introduced by 2012. The new system consists of three categories rather than four, since there will be no category corresponding to VDQS from 2012. The new categories are: The largest changes will be in the Vin de France category, and to VDQS wines, which either need to qualify as AOP wines or be downgraded to an IGP category. For the former AOC wines,

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