It was Catherine Leparmentier who founded the network in June 1999. Today, as Managing Director of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network, she oversees the organisation’s development, promoting and improving wine tourism globally. A pioneer, she has overseen a dramatic evolution of wine tourism around the world. The international project started with six wine cities; today they are eleven. Although Catherine agrees that wine tourism probably started in Napa with Robert Mondavi, she insists Bordeaux wasn’t far behind. Interestingly, here it wasn’t the big names that started the movement; it was small properties, reliant on direct sales, that started the trend. The classified growths selling through ‘La Place’ were slower to catch on, but today they too understand the loyal fan base that visits create. Today, Catherine works closely with the Executive Committee and team members worldwide to drive the development of GWC. At last November’s AGM, Catherine was awarded the GWC Excellence Award for her 25 years of contribution to the network. She took the opportunity to thank her ‘small but mighty team’ in Bordeaux. Here they are.
Jacques Faurens is the Honorary President of the Executive Committee of the GWCs Global Network. As an associate member of CCI Nouvelle-Aquitaine, he represents the CCI within the organisation. His recent retirement has left him with time to invest in his passion for wine, a passion he attributes to a Great Wine Capitals trip to San Francisco and Napa in 2005. It opened his eyes, and palate, to the world of wine, and to the wine trade, wine tourism and the connections it builds.
As impressed as he is with the international wineries, he is lucky enough to visit, he knows Bordeaux has the advantage of being a viticultural reference. This is thanks to the iconic status of the ‘Bordeaux blend’ but also the impressive international business network built up over centuries of trading. As difficult as things are for the wine trade right now, he remains optimistic for the future of the organisation. He credits Catherine with succeeding in the challenging task of keeping an association of diverse regions working together, and he is confident that a new generation will continue to build on this dynamism of the last 25 years.
Lucie Lefevre works alongside Catherine as Local Coordinator, participating in the GWC Working Group.
With a double master’s degree in International Trade and Wine & Spirits Management from Kedge Business school, Lucie started her career at La Cité du Vin in Bordeaux, just before it’s public opening in 2016.
Her skill in building privileged relationships with international wine organisations and promoting wine heritage led her to Australia as Brand Ambassador for the prestigious D’Arenberg wine estate. This opened her eyes to a very different experience of wine tourism compared to Bordeaux, giving her a unique perspective that has been key in developing sustainable and innovative wine tourism on both regional and international markets.
Education in wine tourism is key for consistently improving the quality of the industry; in turn, the excellence of education owes much to research.
Yann Chaigne PhD, spent six years with the Wine School of Kedge Business School, which offers a MSc in Wine and Hospitality Management, as well as options for bachelor’s students across three campuses.
He now runs the Food and Wine Research centre there. Part of GWC for three years, his experience in wine business, education and tourism makes him perfectly suited to the GWC research committee, as does his specialist knowledge of Bordeaux as an accredited tour guide.
This fascinating part of the organisation allocates grants to research projects in wine tourism. They are spoiled for choice when it comes to quality candidates; last year, 20 projects came forward.
For Yann, the GWC is a unique source of practical information for researchers. Thanks to the network of GWC resources across the ‘Old World’ and ‘New World’, it provides a forum for continually updating training and sharing information.
Yann underlines how important it is to stay ahead of trends and to create up-to-date, relevant information that all members can use. As well as sharing results of funded research, the GWC pioneers education within the organisation with webinars and conferences on subjects as diverse as inclusivity, heritage and culture. Masterclasses for other organisations raise the profile of GWC and create complementary income to sponsorship and events. Their presence at wine events and trade shows creates B2B opportunities. This role of research and information sharing is part of a re thinking of the role and purpose of the organisation – so important in such a dynamic and ever-changing sector.
Florence Maffrand is Head of Wine Partnerships & International Patronage at The Fondation pour La Culture et les Civilisations du Vin, the foundation, which operates the award winning Cité du Vin in Bordeaux that today, welcomes more than 400,000 visitors a year. Since 2015, Florence has developed a unique international network of partnerships with 50 national and regional wine associations and governmental bodies around the world.
Florence discovered GWC before the Cité du Vin opened, when she attended the 2015 AGM in Rioja. Since 2018 in Adelaide, where she collected a Best Of Award for La Cité, she hasn’t missed a year.
In 2019, she joined the GWC working group to organise the Bordeaux AGM building a partnership with the CCI to welcome the conference to la Cité du Vin and again in November last year including prize-giving for the Best Of Wine Tourism Bordeaux 2026.
Since January 2024 Florence is part of the Membership Working Group. Her skill in sponsorship and international outreach brings an invaluable experience and outlook to growing the GWC. Florence sees a natural synergy between the two organisations. ‘We share the same partners in member capitals and in the wineries and we also have the same objective – to share wine heritage with visitors from across the globe. Wine tourism is one of the key drivers towards achieving this goal.”
Sophie Gaillard is Director of Communication and Wine Tourism at The OTCBM (Bordeaux and Metropolis Tourism and Conventions Office), which promotes the entire Bordeaux region. Since 2004, she has participated in Bordeaux Fête le Vin, a major success for the city.
Sophie brings a long experience in wine PR with local agencies and the Saint-Emilion Wine Council as well as deep knowledge, understanding and a trusted network within the region. With her 22 years’ of experience in Wine Tourism at the OTCBM, she has been involved with the Best Of Wine Tourism Awards since the very beginning.
Sophie attended her first General Assemblies in Lausanne in 2023 and Verona in 2024, when she started working in the Brand & Communication Group. She sees these last 20 years as an extraordinary opportunity to discover vineyards across the world. Beyond the valuable exchanges with other wine tourism actors and the wider community, the opportunity to learn from other initiatives and understand what is transferrable between regions has been exceptional.
This brings her back to the advantages of Bordeaux. Today, the region offers a range of experiences for all audiences, be they affordable or luxurious, quirky or classic. There is a genuine desire here to share knowledge (sometimes a little too technical – a small price to pay for shared passion). However, with the traditional Bordeaux model, translating this passion into sales remains a challenge for many properties. Her enthusiasm is tinged with realism: the OTCBM has seen a decrease in demand for winery visits over recent years. Sophie underlines the importance of carefully assessing the potential of any wine tourism project, competition is tough, and professionalism is key. This leads her to caution against seeing wine tourism as the solution to the current wine crisis.
On a more personal note, her partner is a wine maker in the Entre-deux-Mers, where wine tourism has been a ray of sunshine in an otherwise morose 2025. Opening up to a local clientele typifies the personal and friendly welcome that she sees as a signature of the region.
IRINA KVITKO, GWC Coordinator has had an eclectic education taking her from Saint Petersburg, via Portugal, Spain, Rome and Luxembourg to Bordeaux with Masters in Wine Tourism Innovations and Management for Tourism and Hospitality.
This invaluable international experience, combined with her focus on wine and wine tourism, allows her to blend creativity, planning, and a commitment to excellence to constantly improve working relationships within the organisation.
She prioritises collaboration with the objective of enhancing the global presence of GWC, coordinating actions and events that bring different members of the organisation to work and grow collectively. You’ll find Irina animating the online webinars that bring everyone together.
Jean-Baptiste Thial de Bordenave is the GWC Brand Ambassador for Bordeaux. From a family of wine makers, he grew up surrounded by vineyards. With a master’s degree in Wine Law, his legal activity is exclusively linked to the wine business. He is also a legal editor for the Revue du Vin de France and chairman of AIDV (the International Association of Jurists Specialising in Wine Law), a forum for legal wine issues across 30 countries that contributes towards international legal harmonisation.
This experience and expertise are invaluable to an international organisation such as the GWC. He is also an excellent public speaker, readily sharing his passion for the industry, as anyone who attended the AGM in Bordeaux in November can attest.
He shares his expertise through teaching wine law at master’s level at the University of Bordeaux, the University de Reims and Kedge Business School.
His love of wine is not limited to the legal sphere, he also sits on the tasting committee of the French wine magazine, La Revue du Vin de France.
Bordeaux has a close-knit team, all sharing a passion for wine and committed to sharing it across the world, in collaboration with each other and the other 10 cities. It’s a philosophy whose success is proven by the continuing evolution of Great Wine Capitals.
Author: Wendy Narby – Insider Tasting
Photos credits: ©artisteassocié