Exclusive Interview with Mr. Marc Sassier, Oenologist for Saint James

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  EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MR. MARC SASSIER, OENOLOGIST, FOR SAINT JAMES

Welcome back to “Got Rum?” magazine Marc! I can’t believe a year has come and gone since our last interview in 2017. You are now on your sixth year with Saint James, congratulations!

Q: Have your professional responsibilities/activities changed since our last interview? Also, last year you mentioned that one of the biggest challenges the A.O.C. faced was protecting the denomination of “Agricole”. Is this still the case?

Yes because in the meantime rums have appeared (from Brazil, Mauritius and other countries) with our denomination. requests by third countries have been made to the European Union, which has recently given us precedence for use and protection, the term being protected by the WTO in the coming days. I hope this will happen and be applied!

We want to avoid confusion, it is not because you have a pure cane juice rum, that you have an “Agricole”. Agricole Rhums must meet strict specifications and be able to justify the intrinsic quality of its product (see pg 23).

Haiiti has the Clairin, Brazil the Cachaça... and we have Rhum Agricole. If other countries have a historical particularism they should have a particular name anda dedicated history. The intrinsic quality, conveyed by the ‘Agricole’ term, cannot be misled by opportunism. products made from cane juice (instead of molasses) can use the term “(pure) cane juice rum”.

Q: Have any new challenges been identified over the last year?

Currently we are redefining more precisely our geographical area, because all of Martinique Island cannot provide A.O.C. canes, only the selected lands. This work is long-term, and the experts will shortly release their report.

Our specifications were presented in Brussels, and have been approved by the DG Agri (=Directorate-General of the European Commission). now we are awaiting the response of the other committees for the coming months. Then we will start a process to implement some changes, especially with the will of some producers to launch specific finishes. We are looking to register it at the European level, but we must define it to protect all the essence of our designation.

Q: There are different initiatives to force producers to disclose and/or limit the use of ingredients in their distillates. Common examples are sugar and caramel, but there are others. What are your thoughts on this subject?

The definition of rum is so broad, it is sometimes difficult to understand. With Rhum Agricole we announce the color with the strict specifications and our communication on the elaboration (no sugar, no flavoring ..., age counts ...), but the confusion can reign when one finds at the same time flavored rums sold under the term rum and “spicy rums” ... so Europe has one of the most strict definitions of rum, but that’s not all, we must also make sure it’s applied as we see the sale of products that do not comply with this rule, or even modify it.

For example the sugar level: if we look at the European Union text, it should be zero, but it is actually going to be aligned to 20g/liter of final product. That’s rather curious when we see the sugar hunt in the food sector. Of course the traditional French rums will remain without sugar. We had asked for example that this sugar must be from the cane, in order to correspond to the nature of the rum.

Should we force producers to label everything and so see that rums which are not sweetened and without flavoring put a list of “0”? This can be a commercial argument, “sugar free” seems to be more and more used. I believe that by transparency, we must make it necessary to write any addition in the product (sugar, herbs ...). By the way this is actually the case in Europe, when one flavors or sweetens a Rum, one must name it “liqueur” or “punch” ... but unfortunately it’s not at all applied.

Forcing labeling is one thing, but its control is all the more important because otherwise it is useless, we must ensure the veracity of the mentions and ensure transparency.

Q: What about boisé, do you think it is something that should also be disclosed by companies that use it?

Most spirit producers use boisé (oak extracts) for their products, it would be simpler if those who do not use it indicate it on their labels as a differentiator. The use of boisé in France is allowed, but only if made by aqueous infusion, it may be different in other countries. 

Q: With the advent of “craft distilling,” many small companies outside Martinique are releasing “Agricole- style” rum/rhum into the market, produced using pot stills. By calling them “rhum” or “Agricole-style” do you feel they are paying tribute to the Martinique-made rhums or hurting them? Do you think the A.O.C. will or should intervene?

The wording “craft” meets the artisanal part of A.O.C. Agricole Rhum. We see “craft production” developing on all continents: this of course pays tribute to the quality of our product, but sometimes it is also used in a purely commercial way. We are now seeing rum made from virgin syrup wanting to be named Rhum Agricole! Or Cachaças becoming Agricole as well...

It is not enough to put “Agricole” on the label, we have a certain image associated to our products, and if everyone gets hold of the “Agricole” denomination what will remain of this rum which so natural... ? Of what made its fame? As I said here above, “pure cane juice” is more appropriate for these rums in terms of definition. That’s why we prefer to keep the “agricole” wording for ourselves and that each production area finds its own appropriate qualifier. Shouldn’t they, as visionaries, find their own differentiators in order to stand out in this vast world of rums?

Q: The weather is changing quite a bit around the world, has it affected sugarcane cultivation and/or rhum aging in Martinique?

Concerning the ageing, this doesn’t yet have actual repercussions on the process, but it joins in the list of climatic hazards which are more numerous recently. So we have more contrast during seasons, rainy periods that have shifted etc...if rums from molasses can buy their raw materials in several places, we must be right next to our sugar cane plantations and the cultivation of our raw material directly affects us. The planted cane will be harvested for more than 5 years, so the effect of a climatic hazard at a given moment can have consequences for several years. A drought or an important root asphyxia, lead to a deterioration of fields, a recourage (local replanting) or a necessary complete replanting. These are what I called “legacy effects”, that only fade in a long time.

Nevertheless, sugarcane remains a beneficial plant for our climate, being a C4 plant it fixes more carbon than others. For example, the 3800 hectares of canes planted in Martinique set the equivalent of 20% of our atmospheric pollution by gas exhaust cars. Did you also know that a study to show that the cover crop of sugarcane evaporated more water than other forms and cooled the ambient air up to 1.5 ° C!

Q: Craft distillers often ask us about technical/historical resources that can help them better understand rhum agricole. We often suggest they read “Le Rhum, sa Fabrication et sa Chimie” by J. G. A. Guillaume. Are there other books or manuals that you would recommend?

Before Guillaume you have the first descriptions by Pairraut (1903) and after him the book from Kervégant, very complete, the one from 1949 in particular. I wrote a book with Jean-Louis Donnadieu, for the 250th anniversary of SAINT JAMES plantations, where we have summarized the history of rum in several dozen pages. I often present these elements abroad (Japan, China, Madrid, Canada, Jamaica ...) or on various websites on the subject.

Margaret: Marc, thank you again for this follow-up interview and all of your great insight into the rhum agricole world!

Cheers!

Margaret E. Ayala, Publisher