Geert Jan van Arkel, Managing Director of Wineforces / Portraits

Changer Jan van Arkel, Managing Director of Wineforces, stands in front of an oyster farm in Arradon (56) where Vinho Verde has signed Seaside appeals to locals and tourists alike.

« See, the vines withstood the frost! » Gert Jan van Arkel, Managing Director of Wineforces, is proud to show the feet he has planted in front of his cork-covered desks. Yet, nothing could be more classic when Rayon Boissons visits a wine company. With the difference that the meeting takes place in… Arradon (56), in the middle of the Gulf of Morbihan. A place as charming as it is far from the first “real” plots located more than 100 kilometers away in Muscadet. but. Having spent many vacations there during his youth, this is where this Dutchman decided to settle down 15 years ago. That was shortly before embarking on a Wineforces adventure with his partner Joᾶo Fernando Oliveira, also known as John. ” The company sold mainly Portuguese wines to the United States and wanted to expand with products from all over the world, He remembers. Even if it means traveling around the earth, you might as well afford a privacy setup that works for the whole family. Therefore, on the shores of this inland sea with its many islands and islets, he raises the flag with his French wife and two children. Postcard decor that Gert Jan van Arkel considers particularly “inspirational”. The real marketer, the one who co-launched Jean Balmont or Boire et Manger inside Vinival is obsessed with the global wine consumer.

Tussock Jumper

In 2009, he went to New Zealand to conquer Sauvignon and came back mostly with a brand. Away from the sources, he actually came across a small local company with a few claws asleep. Among them is the Tussock Jumper, which immediately appeals to the image of a sheep adorned with a pullover. “ The three foundations of a brand are product, marketing and consumers, knowing that the second is the link between the other two, Explains the person who also contributed to the Chamarré project. It was the strength of the Tussock Jumper. With John — since missing and his son taken — the decision to buy the signature wasn’t long gone. Gert Jan van Arkel explains that “a name has a double meaning.” Tussock corresponds to the tufts of grass on which a shepherd jumps to lead his flock. It also means a woolen jacket. » The dress that quickly became a brand gimmick.

Each root has its own symbolic grape variety and main animal, always dressed up! ” This is the identity element of the Tussock Jumper which aims to present wine to young consumers with an original discourse., argues the brand new sixty-year-old. We even make New Zealand sheep, Australian pandas or South African rhinos talk through augmented reality. This is with wines cared for by the wine driver himself, and a great connoisseur as a reader of analytical files. Commercial success is on time with more than five million bottles sold worldwide. This oyster was never satisfied, at the same time he developed other signatures, one time directly related to his place of residence. Seaside, which has green Portuguese vinho to accompany the seafood, and Burasca, in reference to storms on the coast, each weigh nearly three million passes. Borrasca also allows him to put himself on the bubbles and thus expand his field of work. ” On the labels of cava and prosecco, in white and pink, because they are the most famous on the wine planet ”, concludes Gert-Jan van Arkel. If he admits that he doesn’t enjoy navigation, he knows exactly how to set the course for Wineforces.