Wine Terrorism
France is in the throes of a wine crisis. After centuries of world domination, demand for its wines is diminishing because of declining wine-drinking at home and through losing ground to new wine-producing nations abroad.
A cruel irony is inherent in France’s polarised industry today. While wine buffs can’t get enough of the acclaimed crus of top estates, producers of mainstream wines are experiencing a massive oversupply of poor quality wines and plummeting prices.
The situation has been fermenting for some time, and the French authorities have their heads firmly stuck in the sand.
Instead of implementing the unpopular solution of grubbing up the vines responsible for the unsaleable wine, they’ve opted to shell out subsidies to keep their ailing vignerons afloat, which is still not enough to satisfy the likes of the militant group called CRAV (Regional Committee for Viticultural Action).
France’s industry is steeped in tradition, and these problems have been exacerbated by a slowness to acknowledge the market has changed. New World countries have wooed wine drinkers with clearly labelled, well-made, fruity wines, and France has been hampered by the complacency of some of its producers and the complexity of its restrictive wine laws.
These may have protected some of its unique wine styles, but restrictive winemaking and viticultural practices, which prevent most regions from putting grape varieties on their labels, have made it hard for France to compete.
From NZHerald by Jo Burzynska
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Tags: france
