Due to a significant oversupply and declining demand, the government accepted the radical proposal.
According to Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau, the French government and the EU would spend a total of €200 million ($216 million) to remove wine surpluses in a nation famed for its centuries-old winemaking traditions. Parisian officials claimed weak demand, which led to excess output and declining pricing.
At a news conference on Friday, Fesneau stated that the funds are “aimed at stopping prices collapsing and so that wine-makers can find sources of revenue again.” Additionally, the official advised that the entire sector “think about consumer changes… and adapt.”
According to AFP, businesses who make hand sanitizers, cleaning supplies, and perfume may purchase the alcohol from the banned wine.
The well-known Bordeaux region and the southwest Languedoc region are two of France’s most severely damaged areas.
Jean-Philippe Granier, a representative of the Languedoc wine producers’ association, was cited by AFP earlier this month as stating, “We’re producing too much, and the sale price is below the production price, so we’re losing money.”
The Bordeaux region’s approximately 9,500 hectares of vineyards will be destroyed, according to a June announcement from the French Ministry of Agriculture. The damage would cost €57 million. The government has also been paying grape growers incentives to move to other products.
High inflation had reportedly reduced wine consumption, according to a June report from the European Commission. The surplus resulted from this and a good harvest in 2022.
Wine consumption decreased by 7% in Italy, 10% in Spain, 15% in France, 22% in Germany, and 34% in Portugal at the period, per the statistics collected by the commission.
Between January and April 2023, the bloc’s wine exports decreased 8.5% from the corresponding period in 2018.
