French vineyards want payout ‘to pour wine down drain’ as trade dries up
Bordeaux winemakers are demanding government compensation to destroy vines and pour unsold stocks down the drain, a move they say is needed to save their livelihoods.
The vineyard owners say sales and prices have collapsed because of overproduction and altered drinking habits.
Wine drinking in France is believed to have dropped by two-thirds in the last 60 years, with red wines particularly affected. A survey last November found the consumption of red wine had plunged by 32% in 10 years, mainly in the 18-35 age group.
The poll found the decline’s main causes were people eating less red meat, fewer families dining together, and an increase in households with single parents who did not drink alone.
France is also one of the fastest growing markets for alcohol-free drinks amid a global boom.
Didier Cousinez, a spokesperson for wine producers in the Gironde, said that about a third of the department’s 4,000 vineyards were in difficulty and local families were suffering.
“Whether I make good or bad [wine] I can’t sell it. People are drinking other things. They prefer beer or fizzy drinks to wine. We’ve been living below the break-even point for more than 10 years now,” Cousinez told French television.
The Bordeaux producers are proposing to pull up 10% of their vineyards , amounting to about 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres). They want the government to compensate them by up to €10,000 (£8,800) for each destroyed hectare.
They also want to destroy unsold stocks to make room for this year’s vintage and push up prices, without which, they say, the sector risks collapsing, threatening the jobs of 80,000 people. Local representatives claim that about 300 struggling vineyard owners say they want to give up viticulture altogether.
The winemakers’ demands came as Paris hosted the annual Vinexpo wine fair attended by about 3,400 wine producers from 52 countries.
While wines from Bordeaux, the Côtes du Rhône and Languedoc are struggling, Burgundy producers – who had to dip into their stocks to make up for damage to grapes by early frosts in 2021 – say they are doing so well this year they have had to limit sales.
Jean-Michel Chartron, a Burgundy winemaker at Vinexpo, told the broadcaster France Bleu he could have sold his 2021 wine several times over.
“Just this morning I’ve seen people from Texas, Italy, Estonia, Germany and Brazilians and also some Michelin star Parisien [restaurateurs] who’ve come to try our wines. Unfortunately, with the 2021 vintage being extremely small in volume, everything is already allocated or pre-sold.”
François Labet, president of the BIVB, the Bourgogne producers’ professional body, said 55% of the region’s wines were sold abroad.
Last week, representatives of struggling Bordeaux producers lobbied the agriculture minister, Marc Fesneau, and said they were reasonably optimistic that the government would act.
The minister has promised a €160m package that would involve destroying stocks of unsold wine – last carried out during the Covid crisis in 2020 but seen as a short-term solution. Paris is also waiting on the EU to confirm €40m of aid for the wine sector.