A forum of leading figures from the world of wine, founded to celebrate the Grands Vins d’Origine and find answers to the challenges that threaten them.
Founded in 1971 by a number of like-minded wine leaders from different countries, the Académie Internationale du Vin’s initial aim was to define a code of good practice for the production of Noble Origin Wine.
Even today, the Académie Internationale du Vin’s primary aim is to be a collective, collegial and responsible think-tank, generating ideas to help winegrowing, wine production and wine promotion evolve towards the highest possible quality standards.
The Académie Internationale du Vin conducts its reflections and debates with the strictest independence from government institutions, regulatory authorities and private influencers. It brings together producers, researchers, sommeliers, journalists… who are admitted by co-optation and share a common ethic of wine production.
Today, the Académie Internationale du Vin boasts some one hundred members from twenty different nationalities. It draws on the diversity, experience and skills of its members.
Our mission
Since its foundation, the Académie Internationale du Vin has pursued an ambitious goal: to draw up a code of good practice for the production of Noble Origin Wine, based on reports, briefs and the work of its members, commissions and workshops. Today, the defense of Vin Noble has become the Academy’s priority mission.
By “Noble Wine”, the Académie means one that has a history and a tradition; one that reveals a sense of belonging to the place in which it is produced; one that transcends fashions by being both different with each vintage and yet recognizable: geography, geology, exposure, viticultural practices and vinification all combine to produce a wine that is specific to its terroir and respects notions of durability and quality.
The strength of the Académie Internationale du Vin lies in the diversity of its hundred-odd members, from all areas of the wine industry, who write lectures, lead debates, organize tastings and conduct research on the major issues of the day: climate change, biodiversity, regenerative viticulture, carbon capture, a rational phytosanitary policy, soil enrichment and preservation, to name but a few.
The Académie Internationale du Vin is an independent body not linked to any political, governmental or state organization. It brings together producers, researchers, sommeliers, journalists, merchants… who share the same ethic and are elected by the General Assembly of members of the Académie Internationale du Vin. The Académie is proud of the collaboration it enjoys with eminent scientific organizations around the world.
The Academy meets twice a year for a winter symposium and spring trips to key wine regions around the world, to exchange ideas and deepen members’ knowledge.
The members of the Académie Internationale du Vin uphold viticultural ethics and principles supported by scientific knowledge to encourage and ensure the sustainability of Noble Wine production. The Académie Internationale du Vin exists to help safeguard the heritage and environment of the great Noble Wine-producing terroirs. The present and the future are certainly not replicas of the past, but the production of Vin Noble is based on age-old values that must be preserved.
History
The Académie Internationale du Vin was founded in 1971 by a group of winemakers, oenologists and philosophers who were determined to oppose the growing industrialization of wine production methods.
The Academy’s founding members, who include Loire oenologist and philosopher Jacques Puisais, Jacques Perrin of Château de Beaucastel in the Rhône, Banyuls winemaker André Parcé and Montpellier ampelographer Pierre Galet, wanted to create a forum where like-minded wine personalities could meet regularly.
Their aim was to find alternative solutions to the excessive use of chemicals, and to encourage a return to traditional, artisanal methods of wine production, based on ancestral know-how. The Académie was intended to be a place of memory, a conservatory, a workshop for reflection and proposals, and a bastion for the defense of the Grands Vins d’Origine. The ultimate aim of the Académie Internationale du Vin was to set winegrowing on a secure course for the future.
The Académie quickly became a place where the methods of the past are assessed against the technology and knowledge of today’s science to ensure the preservation of great terroirs and safeguard the future of Appellation d’Origine Protégée wines. Initially, the Academy’s scope of action focused on the great vineyards of France, but its work soon extended to other countries and cultures facing the same issues.
Today, the Académie Internationale du Vin is a dynamic organization with some 100 members from 22 wine-producing countries around the world. It welcomes personalities who play a key role in the defense of quality wines, thanks to meticulous production methods, respect for terroir and plants, and innovative research.