Univitis, a historic cooperative winery of the South-West of France!

1. The creation of the cooperative winery Univitis

If we had to sum up the creation of the cooperative winery in a single sentence, it would be: unity is strength.
But let’s go back to the origins of its creation.

In 1930, the economic crisis also affected the Gironde and the Dordogne and did not spare the wine market, which became very speculative.
The small winegrowers were isolated and helpless: customers were becoming increasingly rare and unpaid bills were piling up.
In addition to all this, the cellars had to be improved, the vats renewed and enlarged.
Unfortunately, the winegrowers lacked the means to sell their wines because of the lack of customers.

It was in 1935, in this difficult context, that winegrowers, including the Lèves winery – the historical founder of Univitis, got together and built the cooperative wineries of Gironde and the South-West, which vinify and sell about 30% of their production through this grouping.
This grouping allows the winegrowers to pool their production tools and thus to reduce the expenses of each domain (not having to buy their own machine for example) and to be able to sell their wines more easily!

In 1974, the Producers of Lèves and Côtes de Gensac got together to start marketing their wines in bottles through a SICA (Société d’Intérêts Collectifs Agricoles).
In 1984, 10 years later, the SICA was transformed into a Union of Cooperative Wineries, which took the name Unitivis.

Over the years, several châteaux and estates joined the Union of Cooperative Wineries. Univitis also acquired estates, including Château Les Vergnes, a 90-hectare property, which became its pilot vineyard, a true expression of the winery’s viticultural know-how.

In 2008, Univitis and its member wineries (Les Lèves, Gensac/Vayres and Villefranche) merged into a single entity: the Univitis Agricultural Cooperative Society! Following this merger, many commitments were made by the winery.
Indeed, in 2009, Château Les Vergnes wishes to anchor itself in sustainable development and creates its own label, the Bee Orchid, formalizing the commitment of the château in a sustainable development approach.
From 2009 to 2012, the cooperative winery obtained several standards and certifications such as IFS Food or BRC (the global standard for food safety).
During all these years, the cooperative winery has made a real shift towards sustainable development commitments and better consumption!

Then, in 2014, no less than three stores were opened in the communes of Lèves and Thoumeyragues, Flaujagues and Villefranche de Lonchat!

In 2020, a major modernization project is being implemented, with the renewal of the entire machine park of the bottling line representing an investment of 1.7 million euros!

2. The Univitis cooperative winery today

Today, more than 135 winegrowers and their families are members of Univitis and 1600 hectares are exploited each year.
The winegrowers and the cooperative winery have not lost sight of what has motivated them since the beginning: unity is strength!
Univitis pools investments in order to allow each winegrower to devote himself fully to his profession.

Univitis is a cooperative winery that combines tradition and modernity. Indeed, great importance is given to the respect of tradition: the know-how is sometimes ancestral and transmitted from generation to generation!
Nevertheless, the Univitis winery is also part of the modern world thanks to its extremely efficient vinification and packaging tools. In the greatest respect of the standards of hygiene, traceability and food safety, the winery values with passion, the quality and the authenticity of our wines.

Today, the ambition of the cooperative winery remains the same as it was at the beginning: to support the territory and the winegrowers while offering consumers quality wines that respect and represent the terroirs.