This is below the expectations of part of the sector. The “sanitary” uprooting campaign of the Bordeaux vineyard, faced with serious overproduction, must begin in October after a call for applications launched in May, announced Monday the State and the interprofession, which put 57 million euros on Table.
This envelope, announced at the beginning of March, co-financed by the State and the Bordeaux Wine Interprofessional Committee (CIVB)must allow the uprooting of approximately 9,500 hectares of vines, with a premium of 6,000 euros per hectare, in order to fight as a preventive measure against flavescence dorée, a disease which threatens abandoned vines.
” First come, first served “
The State mobilizing 38 million euros, the interprofession meeting in general assembly unanimously validated Monday its participation, which amounts to 19 million euros, including 14 million loans. “The call for expressions of interest will be launched, we hope, in May”, declared the president of the CIVB, Allan Sichel, at a press conference, acknowledging the “significant demand” from the Bordeaux wine sector.
In the leading AOC vineyard in France, with 110,000 hectares of cultivated vines, the less prestigious appellations are suffering from a collapse in prices and overproduction estimated at one million hectolitres. In January, more than one out of three Girondin winegrowers declared themselves in difficulty with the Chamber of Agriculture.
According to the CIVB, the applications of interested winegrowers will be validated on the principle of “first come, first served”, favoring in particular winegrowers wishing to stop their activity. The objective is to start uprooting in October, after the 2023 harvest, said Allan Sichel.
Measures deemed insufficient
In addition to this funding, there are 10 million euros from the Regional Council of New Aquitaine to help “at least 300 winegrowers” to diversify their production, as well as a national campaign for the distillation of surpluses announced by the State. A thousand winegrowers had demonstrated in Bordeaux on December 6 to demand solutions to the overproduction of the vineyard, which produces 85% of red wine.
The “Viti 33” collective, organizer of the rally, demanded the uprooting of at least 15,000 hectares, with a premium of 10,000 euros per hectare. For this collective, the aid announced is not sufficient, especially since many winegrowers are too old to embark on a diversification project.
“There are 40,000 hectares that have a big, big problem of profitability. We will have to ask ourselves questions about the remaining 30,000 hectares, ”said Olivier Metzinger, member of the collective present Monday at the general assembly, who calls for “going further” to regain profitability.