Women at Maison Gabriel Meffre: portrait of Pascale Abadie, Wine Purchasing Manager

What are your responsabilities ?

I work in the Purchasing/Winemaking Department, alongside Véronique Torcolacci and Sylvain Jean, our oenologists. They guarantee the quality and style of the wines we produce, while I am involved in commercial discussions. Throughout the year, I am also involved in the selection of wines with our partner suppliers and carry out monitoring of estates.

I am their main contact for all matters related to quality, food safety and the compliance of their practices in relation to our CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) approach. For this, I work in close collaboration with Audrey Chaufournier, our Quality, Safety and Environment Manager. We regularly hold meetings to discuss our practices, based on a relationship of trust with partners, some of which we have worked with for more than twenty years. My role is also to listen to our sales team and clients, while putting forward my own ideas.

How is your work organised?

After training as an oenologist, I joined Maison Gabriel Meffre in 2009. There is no routine in my job. Each vintage is different and, thanks to the high level of our environmental expectations, things are always changing. Our relationship with suppliers and partners constantly grows and develops.

I travel throughout the Rhône Valley and Languedoc all around the year in order to oversee the production of our cuvées, as well as to determine the necessary volumes for each of our various brands. I visit cellars, of course, but we also maintain contact by phone or directly here, in Gigondas.

Our doors are always open to our partners, to meet our team or share knowledge and skills. This can involve visiting, tasting, sharing news and exchanging quality practices. We inspire each other.

What is your view of the sulphite-reduction approach and quality guidelines, such as Organic farming and HVE3 (High Environmental Value) certifications?

Developing Organic and HVE3 approaches with our partners is one of our goal, since our own estates are shifting to organic methods and/or hold HVE3 certification. Based on our experience, we offer them support on these subjects.

We share our methods and views with the objective of having 60% of our suppliers engaged in quality approaches in five years’ time.

Wines with low sulphite or alcohol content are our responses to clear signals sent out by markets. They are also an integral part of our CSR actions. The entire Purchasing/Winemaking Department is actively involved in these projects and, as an oenologist, I am delighted to contribute to such approaches, which are aimed at developing our sustainable practices through constructive exchanges with our suppliers.

What projects are you working on at the moment?

Following the harvests, there is a period of wine purchasing lasting a few weeks. We then prepare the maturation and bottling stages. Within our department, I oversee the establishment of contracts for our purchases, which enables sales teams to rapidly offer our new vintages and cuvées to our clients.

We are already looking ahead to the 2020 harvest! I am also entering the second phase of work, carried out with Audrey Chaufournier, QSE Manager, as we are organising quality assurance visits to our suppliers. In the challenging situation created by the Covid-19 virus, it is essential to stay in touch with and support all our partners.

What do you find most motivating in your job?

Meeting people! Exchanges with suppliers, clients, team members… This is the most rewarding aspect, which allows us to grow and move forward. Maison Gabriel Meffre’s CSR approach is a strength, providing motivation and inspiration in my daily work. Finally, there is the product. Each vintage has its own specific characteristics and the fact that we work with a living product makes it totally unique

What do you wish Maison Gabriel Meffre for the coming years?

I wish Maison Gabriel Meffre a sustainable future, along with our suppliers, contacts and partners. We are lucky to be located in an exceptional terroir, in Gigondas, and our Winery makes a significant social and economic contribution to the local area.

It is cooperation between stakeholders that guarantees the mutual sustainability of our businesses.

During these difficult times, solidarity between each link in our chain is more than ever essential.

This series of portraits puts the spotlight on women at Maison Gabriel Meffre. You can also read the portraits of:

• Yash Ghienne, Export Director Europe
• Audrey Chaufournier, QSE Manage
• Véronique Torcolacci, oenologist