FedEx Express has been chosen by the famous French wine producer ‘Château Rauzan-Ségla’ tosupport the promotion of its wines internationally by providing express transportation of its wine
bottles and documents.As a traditional vineyard founded in 1661 and producing high-quality wine, Château Rauzan-Séglatakes part in many international events to promote its wines including wine tasting dinners,exhibitions, presentations etc. Some of the recent events that Château Rauzan-Ségla participated intook place in the USA, the UK, Russia, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Dubai and China.
With increasingly tight deadlines imposed by the organisers, express transportation is used moreand more, both for bottles and documentation. Furthermore, international events bear a potentialrisk of hazards which requires a high degree of responsiveness.
“At a winetasting dinner that we had to provide the wine for, the menu changed on the eve of theevent. As a result, we had to change the wines proposed for tasting at the last moment. Suchflexibility was made possible by the express transportation of FedEx, with the wines dispatched inthe evening arriving the next morning local time. Delivery reliability is also an important point,”Sandrine Bégaud, responsible for Communication and Public Relations at Château Rauzan-Ségla,said.
“Faced with the challenge of these events, we cannot allow ourselves to supply our bottles toolate or in damaged packages,” Bégaud added. “For Château Rauzan-Ségla, using the services of FedExis primarily a question of time. It is also a guarantee of quality and reliability. Delivery staffare professional, they respect the requirements of our company and are highly reactive inresponding to our needs.”
The wine sector has indeed specific needs both in terms of delivery speed and fragility, as wellas in terms of value, which is often quite high, FedEx explained. The company has developed astrong expertise in wine transportation also offering special packaging.
The “bottle box” is a packaging solution that FedEx started offering its customers several yearsago. It is resistant, made of cardboard and plastic film, and is suitable for three or six bottlesof different shapes and sizes. The packaging is designed to ensure optimal protection of theproducts, from pickup to delivery. The bottles are protected inside from external shocks. Customerscan also use their own packaging if they wish so.
Located in the Médoc wine region near Bordeaux, Château Rauzan-Ségla exports its red wines allover the world, with 80% of its production destined for export. Currently, it produces 200,000bottles per year. It takes 18 months from the harvest until the end of the wine-making process toobtain the finished product.
Historically, the wine of Château Rauzan-Ségla was among the wines favoured by Thomas Jefferson,the principal author of the American Declaration of Independence (1776) and the third President ofthe United States (1801–1809), who used to order 120 bottles a year.
