French government steps in to help crisis-hit producers
F
rance’sgovernment has said up to €160m (£142m) could be made available to help crisis-hit producers drain surplus wine this year.
The funding would aid winemakers wishing to distil excess wine into industrial alcohol – amethod also used previously to cut overproduction. This could ease a short-term ‘wine sector crisis’, France’s Ministry of Agriculture said, explaining that inflation linked to the war in Ukraine has exacerbated preexisting structural challenges faced by some French vineyard regions.
A distillation scheme could begin this summer, using €40m of state funds and €40m from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund, as allowed by EU rules, the Ministry said. This funding could be repeated to launch a second distillation scheme in October, it added, stating that it plans to request approval from the European Commission.
Bordeaux’s CIVB wine bureau said it supports a distillation plan for those winemakers having short-term economic difficulties. ‘It is very likely that some wine-growers in Bordeaux will choose the distillation option,’ a CIVB spokesperson told Decanter. It’s an individual choice for producers, however, and full details are still to be made clear.
Some winemakers have called for financial
