Jean-Claude Mas is cheering on the end of Chinese tariffs on Australian wine
Jean-Claude Mas is quite possibly the only French winemaker flying the flag for Australian wine. But then, the man behind the Arrogant Frog label has always been a maverick.
Jean-Claude Mas is quite possibly the only French winemaker flying the flag for Australian wine.
Don’t be confused, he is a proud Frenchman from the southern province of Languedoc, where he produces some of the best expressions of regional wines which are powerful and fruity, fresh and full bodied, driven by spicy flavours, silky tannins and what he defines simply as “authenticity”.
It’s wine he is incredibly proud of for its styles, global success and — most of all — which conjures up a sense of place when quaffed by drinkers, from Milan to Shanghai.
But he will celebrate along with Australian winemakers if the Chinese government announces the removal of crippling tariffs on Australian wine.
This is despite the move firing the starters’ gun on a rush back to the country by Australian wineries, which will invariably squeeze out French, Italian and other wines — as well as his own brands — which have enjoyed a playing field free of Australian competition for almost four years.
“I trust Australia to promote strongly wines in China and to make the cake that much bigger, so if I have a small piece of the cake it will be that much bigger than what I have today,” Mas, the owner of Domaines Paul Mas told The Australian as he visits Australia to promote his wines.
“Please, please go ahead, I welcome the end of the tariffs. I was always totally against thinking that a bad situation for one makes the other happier, that does not exist in the world, when things go wrong, everything goes wrong, when they go right everything goes right.
“I don't think because Australia suffered in China with tariffs and being locked out we will take profit on it. Because I like countries where they produce wine, I don’t see them as competition, I see them as promoting wine. I would love China to produce more wines and promote more wine and make the cake bigger and I will have small bite of the cake — so that is my vision, has always been my vision
“That is why I sell a lot of wine in Italy, that is why I sell a lot of wine in Australia. I think the wine business is about experience, wine is a culture, the more people that are promoting culture the bigger the demand from the consumer is and obviously there will be fierce competition but more wine will be consumed and then a chance for me to sell more of my wines.”
It’s not what you would think a proud Frenchman, let alone a French winemaker, would say out loud. Then again, Mas has always been a bit of a maverick, and has a reputation for saying out loud things others would only whisper.
This is emblematic of his blockbuster label “Arrogant Frog”.
In 2005 he created the new wine label he cheekily called Arrogant Frog which openly derided the French character and played on stereotypes of arrogance and chauvinistic attitudes his fellow countrymen are often accused of by outsiders.
The bottle bears his illustrative creation; a frog character boldly and, yes arrogantly, holding a glass of wine and sporting a fashionable jacket and beret.
“It was a funny label, showing derision about our attitude, French attitudes, sometimes arrogant, and we are frogs, we eat frogs, frogs legs, and sometimes a bit too chauvinistic, sometimes we think France is the centre of the world.
“So a bit of derision of what we are, but one thing is that there is no compromise in making the best possible wines the most authentic way, traditional farming, traditional making, blending and ageing with the signature of the winemaker, myself, in a wine that has got value, authenticity and that is very serious wine, made like a great wine.
“But made with a sunny approach which is not common when it comes to the French wine business.”
It was an instant hit, becoming the biggest imported wine in New Zealand, one of the biggest imported wines in Australia and, along with his extensive Paul Mas range, exported to 90 countries.
Today around 7.5m bottles of Arrogant Frog are produced, making up 30 per cent of Paul Mas’s total annual production of 25m bottles. The wine, which sells for around $12, has found a welcome home in the hearts and minds of Australian drinkers to make Australia the 9th largest international market for Arrogant Frog.
“I created Arrogant Frog in 2005 and it became great success in all the Francophile countries that I exported to, Holland, Australia, New Zealand, some parts of America, Canada, Brazil … and I wanted to show that we can do wine differently in France, different in terms of philosophy, what I call old world with new world attitude.
“And we go into competition against Australian wine in Australia, Italian wine in Italy, German wine in Germany, because I believe that in the Languedoc you can make great, great wines and surprisingly at not great cost. That means the value is outstanding and we can compete with anyone in the world.
“We don’t make the cheapest wine, but when it comes to the best wine for the best price I believe we are very strong.”
This philosophy has served him well in Australia. Mas met with businessman and liquor store operator Dan Murphy in 1998 when he only had five stores and his wines were taken on by the merchant as a key imported French label, to then grow along with Dan Murphy stores, which have become the dominant bog-box wine retailer in Australia.
It was a fun ride to the vineyard for Mas. In the 1980s Mas worked as a cultural attache for the French embassy in Miami, where he promoted French cuisine and culture to locals and visiting cruise ships, and then after a stint driving racing cars he took over a tiny vineyard in the south of France with just 5ha of vines.
Today, it has grown to 940ha of vineyards spread across 17 vineyards, 13 wineries and, as part of his strong belief in environmental protection and natural farming techniques, 500 beehives (causing some complaints from neighbours) and now 40 per cent of his wine is certified organic.
Mas is keeping a lid on his prices, especially when it comes to the flagship Arrogant Frog label, which has proven the right strategy as globally the cost of living crisis puts a strain on household budgets, making picking up a bottle of wine for dinner or a family barbecue a hesitant purchase for many.
But, Mas has seen all of this before.
“I remember Japan back in the beginning of the 2000s, where Japan went through a cost of living crisis, everything went down, revenues of wealthier people went down, there was deflation, and what I discovered is that many people were trading down.
“Instead of buying wine priced at 3000 yen they traded down to 2000 yen and guess what? They discovered that my wines at 2000 yen gave them as much emotion as one of 3000 or 4000 yen, so actually it was very good for us.
“Because the people understood they didn’t have to pay that much and still get a good bottle of wine and they really embraced my wine and my sales in Japan went crazy.”
More Coverage
Beach energy underwhelms market with dividend
The payout to investors overshadowed a 20 per cent jump in earnings that cements expectations that the company is well-placed in achieving its corporate turnaround. Shares slump.
Gupta empire stung for $US53m in UK court judgment
A $US100m debt package to help pay GFG Alliance’s creditors at Whyalla is yet to eventuate, while another company in Sanjeev Gupta’s empire has been hit by a $US53m court judgment.