Decline in red wine consumption, trade crisis with China and then with the United States – two very large markets for French wine – and now the war in Ukraine and inflation, which also affect wine production. The wine sector has suffered several shocks over the past five years, which today translate into overproduction, in Bordeaux as in other regions. Various measures are deployed to support the sector. Bernard Farges, President of the Bordeaux Wine Interprofessional Council (CIVB) and of the Cniv (National Committee of Wine Interprofessions) answered questions from 20 minutes.
What events contribute to explaining the wine crisis?
Since 2018, we have gone through several crises, which have successively closed markets to us. It is therefore a crisis of under-marketing, while our production has not increased, or even slightly decreased. First, there was a sharp decline in exports to China, thanks to trade agreements that benefited other countries, notably Australia. Then in 2019 we suffered the Trump tax in the United States. Finally, when in 2020 Australians and Chinese got angry, and the latter introduced a 200% tax on Australian wines, we were unable to take advantage of it since the Covid-19 pandemic followed and closed the market. Three years later, the Chinese market is just beginning to reopen. Finally, there is the war in Ukraine, and inflation, which impact wine prices in France.
There is also a drop in wine consumption in France, and in particular red wine, which penalizes the sector. How do you explain it?
Since 2016, we have indeed seen an acceleration of this fall in red wine consumption in France. We observe – 35% on Bordeaux, – 31% on Côtes-Du-Rhône and – 29% on IGP pays d’Oc wines, mainly on the entry-level. This obviously has consequences for our production, especially in Bordeaux, where the vineyard is made up of more than 80% red. Each generation consumes less than the previous one, and even the 50-65 year olds, the generation that consumes the most, went from 80 bottles per year and per person in 2011 to 53 bottles ten years later. Our former consumers have switched either to other wines or to other alcoholic beverages, mainly beer, but have essentially reduced their consumption.
Red wine is less ” easy » to taste, in the sense that a slightly educated palate is needed. Could this also explain a certain disaffection among the youngest?
Of course. Before, this culture was transmitted without our doing anything, in the family circle. There was wine in almost every household, with initiated consumers. Now, we have homes that do not drink, especially in single-parent homes where it is less easy to drink wine alone than beer or something else. Rosé can also be drunk without the serenade, with this slightly technical and sometimes painful vocabulary around red. This approach can be intimidating for a consumer. We are thus observing a shift towards rosés and whites, which for the moment has led to a stagnation in their level of consumption.
All this brings us today to an overproduction in relation to consumption. What is the situation in Bordeaux?
We are in a dramatic situation. Some winegrowers no longer have anyone to buy their wine. There are between 700 and 1,200 companies in difficulty, out of 5,000 wine properties, including 300 who say they wish to cease their activity.
What are the solutions to help these winegrowers?
There are European funds to support crisis actions, including distillation [pour transformer l’excédent de vin en alcool à l’usage de bioéthanol ou de la parfumerie]. A wine distillation plan will be set up on a French scale, for the moment of 160 million euros, and we hope for 200 million euros soon.
Do you still support the award-winning uprooting of vines, when the government only talks about sanitary uprooting?
Of course, but there is no European tool for assisted uprooting, and Bordeaux is the only region that requires award-winning uprooting. The Minister therefore did not accede to this request. But I am convinced that this will change in the months to come, because the crisis which was officially only in Bordeaux in recent weeks, is in the process of spreading to all the wine regions of France. Even the Rhone Valley recognizes that we have to pull out. For the moment, we are therefore working on reducing the surface area via a health fund, because abandoned vines, and there will be more and more of them in the coming weeks, are a major reservoir of disease.
How do you estimate the area that will have to be torn off?
In Bordeaux, on a vineyard of 110,000 hectares, approximately 10,000 hectares will be concerned, it will depend on what is put on the table in favor of professionals. But beware, I hear some say that the surfaces should be reduced by 20 to 30%, except that we will never find the candidates for that. 10% yes, 30% no. And we will not solve everything by reducing surface areas: we are working at the same time to relaunch the marketing of our wines, particularly in China, but also towards other Asian markets: South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam… Africa could also become tomorrow an important market for Bordeaux.
Should we also anticipate a diversification of grape varieties in Bordeaux, to make more white and rosé?
Certainly. The production of crémant in the Bordeaux region, which also has the advantage of being made with red grapes, has quadrupled in ten years. We will need more diversification, but in a prudent way, because we should not destabilize the market either. And we also have consumers who are looking for different red wines, as easy to taste as rosés, so there is a way towards “fresh”, low tannin, light reds. The path to alcohol-free or low-alcohol wines is also open to us.
How do you see the evolution of the red wine sector in the years to come, particularly in Bordeaux?
It’s a very strong crisis, but that doesn’t mean that wine will disappear from the Bordeaux landscape. AT Vinexpo Paris last week, I saw young 23-year-old winegrowers who still have faith. What is certain is that we must act very quickly to recalibrate the vineyard and move on. The urgency is the implementation of this distillation tool, and the mechanism allowing the uprooting, to support with dignity the professionals who want to leave the profession, and those who want to diversify their wine-growing lands.