On November 10th, 1,200 bottles of wine from Château Maris, the first European estate to be certified BCorporation®, will leave the south of France Languedoc region, heading for the United States! Setting sail on the cargo ship Grain de Sail, which will dock in New Jersey about a month later. This outstanding initiative is based on a double trend: the growing interest of Americans for more committed wines, and the need to reinvent the transport of goods with decarbonized solutions in a context of maritime traffic congestion.

ECO-RESPONSIBLE WINES: A NEW TREND IN THE UNITED STATES

French wine, with its long-standing reputation in the United States, is still synonymous with quality and premium in the eyes of Americans. This market is seeing the emergence of a new range of organic and eco-responsible wines, which are on the rise: within 5 years, American consumption of organic wines should increase by 14.3% to reach 8.7 million cases.

Committed to these themes and a forerunner in the field, Château Maris has been established in the United States since the 1990s. It is now a recognized estate with strong local roots, particularly on the East Coast and in the New York region.

“This first crossing with Grain de Sail marks the beginning of a great adventure for Château Maris. For us, it is about respecting the whole cycle and not just a part of it. We believe in the future of this type of transport and we want to participate in its development because there is a collective responsibility of companies on the subject.” ROBERT EDEN – Winemaker and co-owner of Château Maris

Producing eco-responsible wines is a key commitment for Chateau Maris, the first European winery to achieve BCorporation® certification, which promotes companies that turn their business into a beneficial and virtuous force: good for workers, good for communities and good for the environment.

GRAIN DE SAIL, THE BRAND BEHIND A UNIQUE COMMERCIAL SAILBOAT

Grain de Sail is a sibling adventure initiated in 2010. 10 years later, the first cargo sailboat took to the sea on an inaugural crossing of the Atlantic. Since then, the Breton company led by the Barreau brothers has sailed twice a year to America,. It has been a real success by inaugurating a new mode of transporting goods. By releasing seventeen times less CO2 per ton than a container ship, it is indisputably a more respectful solution for the environment. Another advantage of transporting goods by sailboat is that, unlike the giants of the seas, it avoids the increasingly frequent port congestion, thus offering greater flexibility on arrival points.

Their cargo ship, containing 10,000 bottles, including 1,200 of Château Maris, will leave Saint Malo on November 10th, arriving approximately 30 days later in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, in the heart of New York Bay. Grain de Sail works exclusively with eco-responsible vineyards and is delighted to be able to transport Château Maris wines in a decarbonized way.

“The alignment of values between Grain de Sail and Château Maris was obvious. This estate is recognized for the quality of its wines and for its strong commitment to sustainable development and we are delighted to be working together.” Matthieu RIOU, Grain de Sail wine and spirits export manager.

CHÂTEAU MARIS REINFORCES ITS COMMITMENTS BY TAKING THE SEA

For the first time, Château Maris has decided to take its environmental commitment a step further by taking the sea with Grain de Sail, aboard the first merchant marine sailing ship under the French flag. By embarking on an innovative mode of transport, Château Maris is developing its commitments to the
environment and to people in all parts of the distribution chain.

About Cordier by InVivo

Created in June 2015, Cordier by InVivo is a subsidiary of the French national union of agricultural cooperatives,
InVivo. Cordier by InVivo works to build strong international brands based on a 28,000-hectare wine base divided between Bordeaux, the
South-West, Languedoc, Roussillon, the Rhone Valley and Beaujolais. It is a vertically integrated global player with 9 partner cooperative
wineries (3,800 winegrowers), distribution companies in high-consumption countries (France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Switzerland,
Belgium, Asia, North America, South Africa) and its own bottling sites. As a producer, marketer and distributor, Cordier by InVivo’s raison
d’être is to generate sustainable value by creating drinks that inspire and delight current and future generations.

About Grain de Sail

The Grain de Sail adventure was born in 2010, with its feet in the water in Morlaix, with the idea of decarbonizing
transatlantic maritime transport thanks to a unique means of transport: the cargo sailboat. Operational since November 2020, the Grain
de Sail, the first modern cargo sailboat with merchant marine standards, exports French organic wines to the United States and imports
coffee and chocolate from Latin America to France. Olivier and Jacques BARREAU, twin brothers and experts in renewable energies, are
the founders and managers of the company which, in addition to being a shipowner, transforms and produces, in collaboration with the
ESAT Les Genêts d’Or, more than 300 tons of chocolate bars and nearly 50 tons of coffee.