You may have noticed this summer that shapes of bottles are evolving, that labels are cleaner in design and that the "cepage" is now often more prominent than the region.
This is all part of the industry's efforts to combat its stuffy image in the face of new world competition for markets. We philistines generally look for red Bordeaux and white chardonnay, in boxes....
But we were presented by the jazz musicians who played here in the summer with a case of a very drinkable Fronton rosé in an elegant cylindrical bottle with the brand name Inès printed stylishly on the label. And it is especially the summer rosés which have undergone this marketing effort (remember Rosé Piscine in the supermarkets) and there is a tradition of shaped bottles in the Languedoc region for the vins gris. But even if traditional Bordeaux square shoulders or tapered Burgundy necks still predominate and the aficionados will look for information of the vineyard, age, cepages etc on the label, for the majority of consumers price will determine choice and a bit of marketing may help keep the French producers competitive.
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