Antoine Pirie is the new MD of Foncalieu

Antoine Pirie, the former MD of the Burgundy trading house Corton André, will be attending the London Wine Fair this month in his new position as MD of Les Vignobles Foncalieu, the French wine cooperative.

After studying business and management at Lille, he started his career in the agrifood sector. He held various positions in international, family-run and cooperative companies.

Antoine’s main task will be to accelerate the development of Les Vignobles Foncalieu while ensuring it retains its status as a high-quality producer.

Les Vignobles Foncalieu is a union of co-operative wineries that are spread across the south of France and represented in all the principal regions of the ‘Grand Sud’: Gascony, Languedoc-Roussillon, Côtes-du-Rhône and Provence.

Founded in 1967, Les Vignobles Foncalieu is the largest collective landholder in the South of France with 5100 hectares under vine, worked by 1,000 winegrowers with an annual production of 26 million bottles. Three-quarters of the wine produced is exported to 40 countries.

Antoine Pirie says: “The UK continues to be a key target market in our plan to fast-track the growth of Les Vignobles Foncalieu and I’m delighted to be travelling to the show this year. It represents a key date in our calendar and a fantastic opportunity to network and communicate Les Vignobles Foncalieu’s key developments during the last 12 months.”  One of those developments was the appointment of head winemaker, Isabelle Pangault, in June 2014, who will also be attending the fair.

11 May 2015 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor