Our history
1980 ...
Strong logistical constraints appear with the sale in returnable bottles. You need large, efficient bottling centers. And also… take back the glass bottles (the 6-star liter), by truckers or "locatiers" to recycle them in huge washing machines!
In addition to this, you need to know more about it.
Commercially, the sale in bottles under brands pushes the 3 Brothers to organize their new profession by creating distribution channels.
In addition to this, you need to know more about it.
The Margnat Frères company creates branches in Marseille (Saint Anne then Chateauneuf les Martigues), Bordeaux, Lyon. Those of Lorient, Rouen and Antwerp then complete these regional establishments. The directors of these subsidiaries, men of confidence of the 3 Brothers, will set up technical and commercial teams for the production and sale in bottles.
In addition to this, you need to know more about it.
The company is coordinated from Marseille for the general management exercised, in common, collegially, by the 3 Brothers. Everyone has their own field: Paul finances, Robert purchases, Jacques communication and branch supervision. Their strength is to be organized in terms of decisions: for the opening of the mail from 9h to 11h at La Tourette, the three of them were alone. A ritualistic closed door of exchange between them. Their strength is also to be "well surrounded"! The branch managers, men "of the trade", were often "more Margnat than Margnat" ...
Chateauneuf les Martigues also called Margnat Village will become the largest of the branches in bottling capacity approaching 100 million bottles per year (in liters). The Margnat Frères company was then at the height of its expansion and the bottles of Margnat Wines were on all the tables to accompany the daily life of the French.
In addition to this, you need to know more about it.
The advertising of "Margnat wine" confirms the place occupied by the company Margnat Frères. Among the very first distributors of bottled wines as evidenced by the innumerable advertising objects: enamel signs, or the untraceable “Margnat winegrower”, through bottle key rings or miniature tankers, not to mention the display and press campaigns.
Margnat has become a brand in the modern sense to sponsor for ten years the Paloma-Margnat cycling team which will mark the Tour de France with the exploits of its riders like Darrigade or Bahamontes. This greatly contributes to making Margnat wine known and appreciated, which has become synonymous throughout France with quality wine at an affordable cost.
1940 - 1980:
"In the European language of tomorrow, the word wine will be pronounced Margnat" (press release 1963).
After 1945, The 3 brothers, Paul (Jp's grandfather), Robert and Jacques take over from their father Edouard. The development of their company in its historical activity contributes to the relaunch of the port of Marseille with the import of wines from Algeria.
The three brothers proceeded, in association with shipowners from Sète, to the conversion of the American landing barges into wine carriers. They even went so far as to build a pipeline between the Quai de la Tourette and the company's cellar under the esplanade of the Cathedral of the Major. An incessant activity sees tank trucks and boats at the quayside intersect in an unstoppable alternation.
But Marseille will no longer be enough. There is a change, general for the profession of trader: the sale of wines until now in bulk will gradually evolve towards the sale in bottle under brands. In this change of profession the three brothers, complementary in character and training, will always work together to excel. The family company becomes the Société Margnat Frères.
1895 - 1940: Edouard, the founder.
Édouard, the great-grandfather, after graduating from the Lyon Business School in 1895, devoted himself to family affairs. He is originally from Auvergne, with businesses created around the French Revolution.
For the wine sector, the context of the years 1850-1900 is very difficult. The phylloxera, a real ecological disaster, has settled on the territory and methodically ravages the French vineyards. Many farmers from the Midi and the South-West are moving to Algeria to recreate “new” vineyards there.
As a young merchant, he decided to leave Lyon and settle in Marseille, the main import port for these Algerian wines which would transform the wine trade. During his first trip he met Louis Bories, model of these French winegrowers from Algeria. The current passes and the interests are reciprocal. It is the beginning of an exceptional family agreement between the Bories and the Margnats.
In addition to this, you need to know more about it.
The new foundations of Vins Margnat have been laid. Installed at 5 quai de la Tourette, on the port, Édouard Margnat became one of the main French wine merchants. His big idea: to develop blends between powerful wines from Algeria that arrive in barrels and lighter wines from the South of France. These blends produce quality wines that are highly appreciated by consumers.
Towards the end of the 1930s, a fleet of vehicles delivered more than 1 million hectoliters throughout France. Édouard is "on the move" while his sons are studying.
