The initial envelope was 160 million euros for 3 million hectoliters distilled, but the professionals pleaded for an extension. VIKTOR CAP / lightpoet – stock.adobe.com
Faced with the drop in consumption of red and rosé wines, this aid to the wine sector, qualified as crisis distillation, compensates producers who withdraw their wine from the market.
When the wine is drawn, it must be drunk, according to the adage. In this specific case, the wine is not drunk but destroyed. French winegrowers are forced to withdraw their production from the market because it is considered excessive. In the second largest wine-producing country in the world (behind Italy), cellars are full and demand is struggling. Result: prices have fallen, as well as the salaries of professionals in the sector. The wine withdrawn from the market is not thrown away, but distilled, that is to say transformed into alcohol, for the needs of industry. Red and rosé wines are the most affected.
A budget of 200 million euros has just been allocated to compensate producers. Financed by European and French funds, the aid provided at the start of the year for an envelope of 160 million euros to distil 3 million hectolitres. But faced with the needs and demand of producers, it has been extended. The goal is to “alleviate a little the difficult moment of crisis that winegrowers are going through said Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau.
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The French consume less and less wine, especially the youngest. And inflation is not helping the situation. From 100 liters per inhabitant per year in 1975, consumption has risen to 40 liters today, according to the National Committee of Wine Interprofessions (Cniv). A previous distillation campaign had already been carried out in 2020 during the Covid-19 crisis. But to really reduce the supply, some professionals in the sector come to demand additional aid to uproot excess vines.