The interprofession announced on Wednesday the request for the uprooting of 9,251 hectares by Bordeaux winegrowers as part of an aid plan for the first French AOC vineyard, weighed down by overproduction and hit this summer by an intense episode of mildew.
1,085 pre-applications for a grubbing-up premium of 6,000 euros per hectare have been submitted, said Allan Sichel, president of the Bordeaux Wine Interprofessional Council (CIVB).
300 winegrowers want to stop the profession
“Of these 1,085 files, which still represent 20% of winegrowers in Gironde, there are 300 winegrowers who wish to completely stop their profession”, underlined the leader of the CIVB. “With this episode of mildew which is very destructive”, the number of final applications could change. These will open in September.
The grubbing-up campaign could cover up to 9,500 hectares on a vineyard of 110,000 ha, representing an envelope of 57 million euros co-financed by the State and the interprofessional organization. It should start in the fall after the harvest. The aim is to fight against flavescence dorée, a disease that threatens neglected vines, and which indirectly allows production volumes to be reduced.
Mildew, a half-algae half-fungus parasite
The Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau welcomed an appropriate device, while a collective of Girondin winegrowers demanded more uprooted area and a higher premium.
Mildew is a half-algae, half-fungus parasite that strikes the vineyards of New Aquitaine with full force, with 90% of the vines affected according to the region’s chambers of agriculture.
“For me, there are elements (…) that make the correlation between the weather (and mildew). We will look at this with (the insurers) and you will have the State on your side to give credibility to the file, ”said the Minister of Agriculture, adding that crop losses could only really be assessed after the harvest.
As an aid, a national plan for the distillation of surpluses, up to 160 million euros for 3 million hectoliters, has also been launched, but the requests exceed the allocated envelope.
Calibrate distillation requests
Jérôme Despey, president of the specialized wine council of FranceAgriMer, estimates that the applications show 4.4 million hectoliters to be distilled, including 2 million in Languedoc and one million in Bordeaux. He pleads for an extension of 40 million euros. “We will have to calibrate the distillation requests well in relation to the mildew”, tempered Marc Fesneau, alluding to the winegrowers who would give up emptying their cellars in the event of a bad harvest.
What to review the volumes to be distilled? “I’m just asking the question of readjusting our strategy,” continued Marc Fesneau, ensuring that the promised envelope would be maintained.