Moet to sue Vinexpo

Moet & Chandon is set to sue Vinexpo over the cancellation of its stand at this year’s Bordeaux trade fair.

Moet claims the organisation demanded they move their stand two days before they were due to build it at the Bordeaux Lac exhibition centre.

This was impossible, Moet says. When they refused to move, Vinexpo cancelled their stand and offered to pay costs.

‘As a consequence, we decided not to go, and sent them a mise en demeure to pay damages for loss of image and credibility as a result of their decision,’ Jean Berchon, Moet communications vice president told decanter.com.

Berchon said Vinexpo had approached Moet in March with the ‘exceptional proposal’ – because Moet had not participated since 1991 – of the vacant Chanel stand, backing the Louis Vuitton stand in the centre of the exhibition.

That was ‘a location and an offer you cannot refuse,’ he said. But then on 16 June – with the show starting on the Sunday – Vinexpo said they should move to the Louis Vuitton stand.

Berchon said naturally this was impossible: LV would not accept the change, and in any case it would have been impossible to redesign the stands in such a short space of time.

‘As a consequence we decided not to go,’ Berchon said, and sent the mise en demeure, a necessary formality before a party can be sued.

Berchon told UK trade weekly Harpers that as the response from Vinexpo on 7 July was not satisfactory, ‘it is very likely we will sue.’

Vinexpo could not be reached for comment.

Written by Adam Lechmere