Mercure Hotels in Australia offering Grands Vins Mercure

Travellers to Australia will now be able to get a better taste of their destination with Accor's launch of “Grands Vins Mercure”, a range of wine lists that showcase some of the most attractive wines of each State at affordable prices.

There are 17 Mercure hotels in Australia, and regional wine lists have been compiled to cover each State, including Queensland. Every wine offered has been selected by an expert tasting panel comprising sommeliers, wine connoisseurs and food and beverage professionals, and, importantly, final judging was conducted with appropriate food courses to ensure the wines are “food friendly”. Some 80% of wine sold at Mercure hotels is consumed with food, so compatibility with food was a major judging criteria.

The Grands Vins wine list is designed to make wine selection easier, grouping wines in four particular styles – fresh and tasty; fruity and light; balanced & elegant and spicy and full bodies – to help guests choose the most suitable wine for every occasion and for every dish, while introducing wines from a range of distinctive wineries that guests might not otherwise have a chance to experience.

To support the Grands Vins offer, each Mercure has trained a group of wine waiters (echanson in French) at each Mercure to provide  assistance to guests with their wine selection in an approachable and less formal manner. To provide the service, Accor’s own AcademieAccor has developed specific wine education programmes in conjunction the Australian Wine Corporation, with four nationally recognised competency levels available to service staff.

“Mercure hotels have always positioned themselves as the ‘keys to the region’, providing an authentic taste of the city or the region in which they operate, so the Grands Vins selections are a perfect addition to their local offerings,” said Accor Vice President Australia, Simon McGrath.

“One of Australia’s great regional strengths is its wines. Whereas NSW’s Hunter may be renowned for its semillon and shiraz, Victoria’s wine regions are famous for pinot noir and pinot gris, Tasmania for their sparklings and Western Australia for their semillon-sauvignon blanc blends. When people travel to these regions they want to be able to experience the region via its wine and food and the Mercure Grands Vins regional selections are an attractive way of introducing the region to visitors.

“The idea is also aimed at enabling guests to discover wines in a relatively easy fashion. The wines are classified in styles and the enchanson is there to assist with matching the wines with food, without it becoming too formal or complicated. We really want to make the  Mercure Grands Vins selections approachable and attractive, letting the wines do the talking.

“Equally important is the pricing. We want to dispel the myth that good wine is only associated with high-end restaurants and high-end prices. Mercure’s Grands Vins shows it is possible to enjoy great wines - many from smaller vineyards - at very attractive prices.”

The Mercure Grands Vins regional lists complement each hotel’s standard wine list, which together provide a comprehensive range of Australian wines. Mercure Grands Vins was first introduced in France in 1983, and the programme celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Grands Vins lists are available in 20 countries around the world.

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