French wines have long been held in high esteem across the wine world. However, the country is facing a serious oversupply of wine due to declining domestic consumption, people drinking less wine and export challenges.
To address the crisis, the French government has informed the European Commission of its uprooting plan to allocate more than £100million (120m euros) to eliminate 30,000 hectares of French vineyards.
Overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture, the move would see wine producers compensated £3,300 per hectare of uprooted vines in a bid to encourage voluntary participation in the scheme.
Those who accept the grants must commit to not replanting vines on the same land for a six-year period, from 2024 to 2029.
This follows a £67m emergency aid package introduced earlier this year to support wine-growing regions in southwest and southeast France, as well as the southern Rhône Valley.
Despite France being renowned globally as one of the wine leaders, consumption has dropped by a whopping 70 percent in 60 years. In the 1960s, people drank an average of 120 litres of wine per year, but the figure is now down to 40 litres, according to the French Observatory for Drugs and Addictive.
The future of France’s wine scene does not look promising as young people are turning away from wine and instead choosing a pint of beer. And when they do drink wine they opt for a white, rosé or light red wine instead of a deep red.
Covid has also had a severe impact with the pandemic causing a drop in exports. The wine market is down by 10 percent last year compared to 2022.
At the same time, high inflation and rising production costs have squeezed the profitability of wine producers, particularly those making lower-quality wines.
Bordeaux, once the epitome of fine French wine, has not been immune to these challenges. Earlier this year, a “sanitary” removal programme was approved, targeting 8,000 hectares of Bordeaux’s vineyards for uprooting. This measure was intended to combat declining wine prices and surplus production.
If approved by the European Commission, FranceAgriMer, the agency responsible for agricultural policy, will begin distributing the funds to eligible wine producers.