What if a business trip would rhyme with teambuilding and discovery?  As a precious ally of professional meals, wine can also be the star of your next teambuilding event.  In order to travel in a committed and original way, let’s discover the oeno-seminars of our Flockeo Partner Elstarecon E&C.  This agency takes care of the organization of events. It is human-sized groups putting forward practice its eco-responsible values.  In France or abroad, the creation of wines is full of unsuspected treasures, come and taste them with us!

Elstarecon E&C: sustainable tourism in their DNA

Elstarecom team

Created in 2014 by Emilyne, Elstarecon E&C was born from the experience of its founder within the family travel agency. Emilyne has been particularly sensitive to plastic pollution in destinations such as Rio and Mauritius. She then created her own agency, with a genuine desire to include the environmental issue in the events organization. Their goal is to create a unique business travel experience. This means offering original workshops for companies that will strengthen relationships within the staff for human scale groups. Beyond their environmental commitment, Elstarecon E&C incorporates strong societal values ​​into their activity. They work for instance with local partners, in France and worldwide.

They offer a wide range of services : team building activities, planning of events and conferences, seminars, incentive trips, themed group stays and various concierge services.

foulage
Foulage en Georgie

What are the oeno-seminars ? 

Among all their activities, there is a seminar perfect for the fall season that invites you to strengthen your team through a wine discovery. If you are a wine lover, someone curious on the lookout for new enchanting walks or an heritage know-how lover, there is something for all tastes!

During wine seminars there are events and visits to a wine estate with meeting rooms available. Activities generally last 2-3 days, or longer as needed. These team building activities take place in several workshops to meet professionals in the wine industry. The groups are made up of a maximum of 20 people to keep a friendly and intimate atmosphere conducive to teambuilding.

elstarecon
© Les chalandoux du 5ème Vent

You can participate in several activities according to your wishes. For walking lovers, you can stroll in the vineyards on foot or by bike. Along the water, also discover the traditional boat trips along the Loire. In Maine-et-Loire, get closer to the habitats of our ancestors thanks to the visit of troglodyte caves. These workshops offer a rich experience through the unsuspected landscapes of France. In addition to that, discover the trades around wine making and decipher your tastings. You will understand a whole new world and stir your taste buds.

These workshops have been designed in the spirit of our time and are connected to the most subtle things nature provides for tasting :

 We started from the premise with the covid crisis that people need to reconnect to ”green” and go back to nature.

A wine and cultural ballade

Wine seminars are organized in various regions of France: in Champagne, Maine-et-Loire, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Alsace. Each region offers its lot of surprises. You can explore different horizons according to your tastes. For example, in the Basque Country, wine is aged at sea. They aim to make people discover these traditional methods.

If France is full of know-how around this emblematic national drink, it is not the only country. Thus, the oeno-seminars will soon be open to Europe and internationally. The opportunity to discover the techniques of maturing wine in amphorae underground in Georgia, for instance.

Foulage en Georgie

Business tourism seen from the perspective of sustainable tourism

As Elstarecon works with local committed partners, the cultural discovery is also intended to convey meaning in the knowledge transmission. The places selected by Elstarecon E&C are either biodynamic or reasoned. The organization of trips is also completely eco-friendly, since they are carried out from Paris by train and arrive in areas that are easily accessible from the station. This makes it possible to limit emissions. For the selection of the meals, the stress is put on local consumption. The producers are chosen within a perimeter of maximum 50 km.

Finally, the seminars integrate both the traditional study part and the cohesion part. This is more ecological because it induces less travel.

The promotion of local men and women is carried out through the intergenerational sharing of passionate producers who are fond of their profession. Passion lies in the spark in their eyes when they will talk to you for hours about the work of the branches, the care they apply to the vines, their harvest and the innovations that are gradually transforming their domain. For example, there are systems to heat the vines preventing the consequences of bad weather or 100% electric tractors to pick up the grapes.

From the traditions of local know-how to the sustainable innovations of tomorrow, several aspects of sustainable tourism are thus included in these activities. In the work itself which is presented to you, the local is valued both in terms of the selection of products and the employment of local young people from the region for disbudding, lifting, pruning of the vines or even harvest.

Cave du Domaine du Chateau Philippe Le Hardi

What kind of activities can we expect?

The themes presented for this seminar are fully original. A balance is sought between traditional studies and the integration of moments of discovery. Thus, one day is devoted to traditional study and the rest of the time to discovery. With the wish to offer tailor-made programs, each of them is adapted to the vision of the business manager.

© Les vignes selon val

In addition to the walks and tastings mentioned above, several cultural visits are offered. For example in Bordeaux it is possible to go to the Cité du vin and discover its history. In Bourgogne, the City of wines and climates and its 3 stages opens its doors to you. After the tasting, the food and wine paired are worked out with professionals to offer a complete experience.

The goal to offer a quality teambuilding remains at the heart of the experience. In particular, it is possible to develop your own cuvée for the company. So everyone can give their opinion, work with professionals to select the best grape variety. This allows the participants to perceive different sensitivities within the team which constitutes a strength. At the end of the day, the entire team can be proud of having created a wine that is unique.

Cohesion can also go through the creation of barrels:

When you create a barrel it’s not something you usually do and you have to work together to soak the wood, to work it to give it a shape. It’s not that simple, you have to be together to do it. That brings the best good ingredients for team cohesion.

Atelier tonneau au Domaine du Chateau Philippe le Hardi

This immersive experience has a strong power of cohesion. It appeals to the curiosity of the participants, in order to make them discover the multiple know-how, the different flavors of wine, to understand the relationship to the land and above all to make beautiful and enriching encounters.

Balade en vélo en Bourgogne

This experience offered by the Elstarecon E&C agency is part of a committed and eco-responsible approach. These stays offer the opportunity to experience various activities conducive to the discovery of cultural heritage and the strengthening of team spirit. An original way of doing sustainable tourism!