I

lection and passion this April 15 for the Federation of Independent Winegrowers of Gironde. Meeting at the Maison des Vignerons Indépendants in Artigues-près-Bordeaux, the departmental union of private cellars elected the winegrower Régis Falxa (Château Lalande Labatut in Sallebœuf, at the gates of Entre-deux-Mers) as its president. Vice-president of the Bordeaux independent winegrowers since 2016, he succeeds the Médoc winemaker Cédric Coubris (Château la Mouline, cru bourgeois in Moulis).

As part of the continuity of his predecessor, Régis Falxa wants to continue the work of raising awareness among local parliamentarians on the difficulties encountered by the wine sector (repeated frosts, rising costs of dry materials, etc.). “We have a discerning and constructive eye as we are increasingly exposed to difficulties” summarizes Régis Falxa, who also sits as a trainee administrator at the Bordeaux et Supérieur union and represents independent winegrowers at the National Interprofessional Association of Wines of France (Anivin de France).

Warrant courted

Re-elected in August 2021 for a second five-year term, Cédric Coubris puts an end to his presidency to dispense with his candidacy as a representative of the radical party in the candidacy for the current presidential majority in the legislative elections of the fifth constituency of Gironde. (held since 2017 by Benoît Simian, member of the Republic En Marche). “For me, a president must remain politically neutral. Instead of going after parliamentarians, I would prefer to become one to defend the vineyards” says Cédric Coubris. Introduced to political life by the Bordeaux senator Nathalie Delattre (the vice-president of the Senate, also a winemaker), the Médoc winemaker is part of a family tradition: his great-grandfather, André Lasserre, having been the mayor of Castelnau -Médoc (from 1945 to 1956), when his grandfather and his father also got involved in politics. “After 20 years of defending viticulture, I am taking up the political link again” discovered Cédric Coubris.

The only change in the office, the taking of the post of assistant treasurer by Damien Pagès (château Noaillac, superior bourgeois cru of the Médoc).