Georges Haushalter, nieuwe topman van de Conseil Interprofessionnel in Bordeaux is van plan de zaak in de komende drie jaar eens flink op te schudden. Voor slechte Bordeauxwijnen is in de markt geen plaats meer, vindt hij. Daarom wordt er, zoals wij al eerder hebben gemeld, stevig gesaneerd. SudOuest had een in het Engels vertaald, kort vraaggesprek met hem over zijn achtergrond. Lees mee `…

`Memorising the spelling of his name will be the first challenge for operators in the wine world. Learning to work with him will be the second. For Georges Haushalter became head this year – during a general meeting on July 19th –of the most powerful inter-professional wine board in France.


The Inter-professional Council of Bordeaux Wine (CIVB), which brings together producers, merchants and brokers, has a budget approaching 30 million euros. Most of this is allocated for promotion all around the world, but also for technical missions and market follow-ups.

“I took time to think it over before accepting. Colleagues supported me and my family agreed. It’s a tough time for the wine business so I won’t be counting the extra hours I put in. I am committing myself thoroughly to this three-year mandate, together with my team.”

Marketing man

At 50, Georges Haushalter, has a rich marketing and business career behind him. He was born in Paris, and spent the first 30 years of his life there. His father, a banking executive, originally came from a village, close to Luxembourg in northern Alsace, while his mother has ties in the Gironde region.

“When my father concluded his career in Bordeaux at the beginning of the 1980s, I used to come here regularly when I was a student at the ESSEC, Paris business school. I fell in love with wine and even began a cellar,” explains the man who since 2002 has been managing director of the Compagnie Médocaine des Grands Crus. Based in Blanquefort, with 25 employees, this merchant company has an annual turnover of 35 million euros. This operation is part of the Axa Millésimes group, directed by Christian Seely, who is also an estate owner in both the Bordeaux region’s Pauillac and Pomerol appellations, but also in Portugal and even in Hungary.

Previously, in 1996, Georges Haushalter was appointed commercial and marketing director of Cordier, the Bordeaux merchant company belonging to the Suez Group then to Val d’Orbieu. He then spent two years working in Burgundy with Louis-Jadot, again on the commercial side of the business.

“My past experiences really have had a strong influence on me. When I was marketing director of Besnier, in Laval, I was particularly involved in developing the Président cheese brand ; in Belgium it was Pepsi-Cola. What’s more it is experiences like these - outside of the wine-producing world - which, once I had arrived in Bordeaux, led me to integrate the merchant syndicate with the CIVB’s promotional committee .”

By virtue of the alternation rule, Georges Haushalter will hold this strategic position for three years. As president of the Bordeaux wine merchants since 2008, Haushalter is the logical successor of ex-president wine-grower Alain Vironneau, who has completed his four year mandate. He in turn had succeeded Christian Delpeuch, from the Ginestet merchant company. Today, Allan Sichel, who could well have a legitimate right to become the next CIVB president, takes on the merchant presidency, a position he occupied not long ago.

“Georges Haushalter knows how to listen to others despite having his own convictions. He is also capable of maintaining direction,” underlines a merchant colleague. As Bordeaux prepares to deploy a major anti-crisis plan, it will be good to have a captain with a firm hold on the tiller.