MON COMPTE
Madivin, the best-selling bottle
La Tribune de Lyon Dec 23, 2021 DAVID GOSSART
Thomas Gautier set up Madivin in partnership with his father.
I love winegrowing,” he says, “and I’ve met a lot of people in the process. And every time I left an estate, I thought what a shame it was that the winegrowers themselves weren’t more identified! Thomas Gautier left his job at Danone, teamed up with his father and launched Madivin in Lyon in February, a brand incubated at emlyon whose aim is to promote “pretty vintages, in pretty places, wines with good drinkability, not too astringent or too complex, for bottles costing 10 to 12 euros, and from intermediate estates, between 10 and 250 ha”.
The idea is to create a special cuvée for Madivin with the winegrower and bottles with a recognizable design – the winegrower’s face accompanied by easy-to-remember keywords; a QR code giving access to the history of the place, the person… The brand is superimposed on the estate. “In any case, 76% of people say that the appellation is not a decisive criterion. Madivin acts as a trusted third party for consumers, and is keen to promote the work of professionals. We buy between 15 and 20% above the bulk price. And with a connected collar system, we can follow the bottles’ purchase path, and share data and commission with the restaurant owner who sells the bottles.
With five wines created, 90 points of sale and a growing number of hectolitres sold, Madivin is heading for a first year with sales of 100,000 euros, and a 76% buy-back rate. “In two years’ time, we’d like to have ten wines and increase the volume with each winemaker.