The vineyard of the Southwest is one of the largest vineyards in France. Established on a vast territory, it presents a variety of landscapes, terroirs, climates and a rich natural and cultural heritage.
On these lands, the winegrowers who have been established for centuries, developing their ancestral know-how over the years. The wines from Southwest France offer incredible diversity and deserve to be explored!
With 42 denominations, 29 AOC-AOP and 13 IGP, the Southwest produced 3.3 million hectoliters in 2019 (including 1.1 mhl harvested in AOC and 1.5 mhl in IGP). In 2015, the region produced 270 million bottles, with 24% of AOC and 76% of IGP sold for export.
The Southwest generates 1 billion € annual turnover for 54,000 hectares (133,437 acres) of vineyard land in production and employs 13,294 people in the sector.
Today, the vineyard of the Southwest extends over 2 regions (Aquitaine and Occitanie) and 12 departments, with 8,261 farms and 28 cooperative wineries.
Jay Clifton was born a few years ago in Atlanta, Georgia and has been a naturalized French Citizen since 1995. A graduate of the University of Georgia with a double major in Political Science and French, he would later obtain a MBA in 2002 at the Ecole National des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris.
Between 2005 and the end of 2010, Jay was deputy general manager for an international relocation services firm in Beijing, China, so he also speaks functional Mandarin Chinese.
Upon returning to France, he decided to settle down in the Southwest.
A life long lover, and consumer, of French wine, Jay started his transition to this noble sector with a one-year experience sponsored by the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce and a winemaker located in the Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux appellation, followed by specialized coursework in wine management and marketing at the Toulouse Business School. More recently, Jay completed his oenological training with the two Wine and Spirits Education Trust certifications.
Accreditation n° 600/1508/1
Accreditation n° 601/6352/5
Our Approach
We endeavor to become your trusted connection to winemakers, cooperatives and institutions in Southwest France, introducing our diverse wine region and unique indigenous grape varieties to the rest of the world.
Our proposition is to organize trade shows and tastings as well as building and maintaining relationships with winemakers. Depending on your requirements as an importer or wholesaler, we can source wine according to terroir, grape variety and available volumes. Furthermore with can work with these winemakers on longer term projects such as the creation of tailor-made wines or the introduction of new varieties to meet market demands.
Concerning our compensation for services rendered, it’s simple. An agreement is made between Sud Selections and each winemaker or cooperative, and payment is made by them based on a percentage of the sales turnover with your company.
We’ll identify wines according to your requirements and help organize sample shipments for evaluation. However, please note that certain, smaller boutique wineries will be reluctant to cover shipping costs, particularly to challenging destinations like North American and China. Having said that, Sud Selections will work closely with you and these winemakers to find the best, most efficient and cost-effective solutions, for example regrouping samples in single shipments to lower costs and encourage trade.
Sud Selections 