France awash with Bordeaux wine.

[JohnC6]

The wines should be really cheap now. It seems there's been a massive slump in demand for the world-famous red wines. It's the gravest crisis since the 1970s. As one winemaker said.." We are all in the proverbial 'merde'. You can guess what that translates to . He's replacing his vines on his 25 hectacres of land to christmas trees, paulownia trees (a deciduous hardwood tree native to central and eastern China and the Korean Peninsula) also called the 'Empress tree', cereal crops,butternut squash and solar panels. More than 1300 of the region's 5000 winemakers are in financial trouble, unable to pay debts after failing to foresee the end of the 1990's claret boom. Depression is widespread and suicides are not uncommon. Bare,brown fields and yellow diggers abound. Government help will cost the French taxpayer €120 million.Some very famous and expensive names are stiil popular but they are the exception. A bottle of red is now being sold for €5 or €10. They only sell about 20% of their production,the rest goes to merchants who sell under their own names. It didn't help that in 2019 Trump imposed a 25% tarrif on all European wines in retaliation for EU aircraft subsidies. The Russia-Ukraine war put a stop to exports to Russia. It seems that wine consumption in France has fallen by 70% over the past 60 years. .Another factor cited by one grower is that people aren't having a Sunday roast anymore but eating tapas in the markets and then going off to visit relatives. Not conducive to red wines.

All sounds rather grim.

 

[ancient_mariner]

Any links?

When we were there in May and September there was lots of red wine in the hypermarches, ranging from a couple of euros to over a hundred, and some locally produced Mercurey was around 75 euros a bottle, albeit a couple of years old. Driving over to Beaune through the vineyards, they were quite busy harvesting, although this years crop may be less good due to the wet, cool weather.

Not disagreeing, but I've not seen evidence that aligns with the story.

 

[Nod]

IIRC, the story's a year or 2 old - or, at least the problem is!

 

[JohnC6]

Any links?

When we were there in May and September there was lots of red wine in the hypermarches, ranging from a couple of euros to over a hundred, and some locally produced Mercurey was around 75 euros a bottle, albeit a couple of years old. Driving over to Beaune through the vineyards, they were quite busy harvesting, although this years crop may be less good due to the wet, cool weather.

Not disagreeing, but I've not seen evidence that aligns with the story.

It was a Times article,Toni, but I've just found this which is the same story.

In Bordeaux, the wine presale system is virtually bankrupt

The Bordeaux wine region is in crisis: the presale system is bankrupt. The shift to white and rosé wines, changing consumer behavior and NoLo alcohol trends are major causes. Despite sharp price cuts and government support, decline seems inevitable.

winecastr.com

 

[Dave Canon]

The wines should be really cheap now. It seems there's been a massive slump in demand for the world-famous red wines. It's the gravest crisis since the 1970s. As one winemaker said.." We are all in the proverbial 'merde'. You can guess what that translates to . He's replacing his vines on his 25 hectacres of land to christmas trees, paulownia trees (a deciduous hardwood tree native to central and eastern China and the Korean Peninsula) also called the 'Empress tree', cereal crops,butternut squash and solar panels. More than 1300 of the region's 5000 winemakers are in financial trouble, unable to pay debts after failing to foresee the end of the 1990's claret boom. Depression is widespread and suicides are not uncommon. Bare,brown fields and yellow diggers abound. Government help will cost the French taxpayer €120 million.Some very famous and expensive names are stiil popular but they are the exception. A bottle of red is now being sold for €5 or €10. They only sell about 20% of their production,the rest goes to merchants who sell under their own names. It didn't help that in 2019 Trump imposed a 25% tarrif on all European wines in retaliation for EU aircraft subsidies. The Russia-Ukraine war put a stop to exports to Russia. It seems that wine consumption in France has fallen by 70% over the past 60 years. .Another factor cited by one grower is that people aren't having a Sunday roast anymore but eating tapas in the markets and then going off to visit relatives. Not conducive to red wines.

All sounds rather grim.

I read in my Sunday paper that in some cases the grapes are now grown in the UK and the wine still made in France. Apparently this is very profitable to the grape growers. Last week I had a bottle of Pauilliac Grand Cru 1986 which my son had given me for a birthday present; he did expect me to bring it out on one of his visits. I suggested that he decanted it and he then told me that he had bought 4 bottles at an auction with a friend but the other bottle which he had kept himself was off. Anyway, our bottle was excellent last Friday going well with the Beef Wellington, my wife made. My son did not tell me what he paid but I had the impression that it was a lot.

Dave

 

[ancient_mariner]

It *sounds* like that the Bordeaux vinyards are in trouble, rather than vineyards generally, possibly why I didn't see evidence of it in the Bourgogne. The article tells a tale of production being sold early, and that's a wine makers dream in a way, but other areas like Beaujolais have done it at low risk (to a lower reputation) by selling wine before it's really ready to drink and made the whole thing fashionable.

 

[JohnC6]

I read in my Sunday paper that in some cases the grapes are now grown in the UK and the wine still made in France. Apparently this is very profitable to the grape growers. Last week I had a bottle of Pauilliac Grand Cru 1986 which my son had given me for a birthday present; he did expect me to bring it out on one of his visits. I suggested that he decanted it and he then told me that he had bought 4 bottles at an auction with a friend but the other bottle which he had kept himself was off. Anyway, our bottle was excellent last Friday going well with the Beef Wellington, my wife made. My son did not tell me what he paid but I had the impression that it was a lot.

Dave

Love Beef Wellington ..

 

[Mr Bump]

I think this is part of the shift away from wines to stuff like prosecco and craft beer and also young people don't drink as much alcohol as old people and especially wine

 

[Clive K]

No, it is still expensive to buy in France. They are not giving it away and I haven't seen any wine producers sitting outside supermarkets begging for money. I was fishing in the Cognac region yesterday and life on the vineyards was going on as normal. Lots of new vines being planted too so there must be a future in it.

In Germany however....

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC8iGjTwYPI

 

[andya700]

Any links?

When we were there in May and September there was lots of red wine in the hypermarches, ranging from a couple of euros to over a hundred, and some locally produced Mercurey was around 75 euros a bottle, albeit a couple of years old. Driving over to Beaune through the vineyards, they were quite busy harvesting, although this years crop may be less good due to the wet, cool weather.

Not disagreeing, but I've not seen evidence that aligns with the story.

I am very surprised at that, because Mercurey was never one of the "big hitters" of Burgundy. I still have a few bottles left from 2022 when we went to Brittany and there wasn't one over 20 Euros a bottle.

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www.vinvm.co.uk

 

[andya700]

I think this is part of the shift away from wines to stuff like prosecco and craft beer and also young people don't drink as much alcohol as old people and especially wine

Just shows the lack of taste that "young people" have. Older people tend to drink less, but have better taste. In my wife's company, the young ones still go out and drink shots (absolute stupidity IMHO), god knows what that rubbish does to their organs.

 

[ancient_mariner]

I am very surprised at that, because Mercurey was never one of the "big hitters" of Burgundy. I still have a few bottles left from 2022 when we went to Brittany and there wasn't one over 20 Euros a bottle.

Buy Domaine du Château Philippe le Hardi Mercurey 1er Cru Les Puillets 2021

Buy Domaine du Château Philippe le Hardi Mercurey 1er Cru Les Puillets 2021 and other fine wines from Domaine du Château Philippe le Hardi and France at VINVM.co.uk. Great prices, 5 star customer service and prompt delivery.

www.vinvm.co.uk

I wonder if there was something special about the bottles we saw that I overlooked? We'd had some that week in a local resto and really enjoyed it, so wanted to take a bottle home. Prices surprised us a bit.