Wine is the lifeblood of France’s southwestern Bordeaux region, employing 60,000 people both directly and indirectly. But faced with falling consumption, overproduction and the French state’s “grubbing up” scheme, the wine industry is being forced to reinvent itself in order to survive. Winemakers are seeking new outlets, whether that means distilling surplus stock or developing sparkling or alcohol-free wines. FRANCE 24’s Antonia Kerrigan and Fadile Bhayat report.
#France #wine #Bordeaux
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26 Comments
The world is amazing.
Wines getting so cheap that it had to be thrown away.
Long ago, everything was so expensive.
Never underestimate humans ingenuity .
The economics is telling us that the small vineyards have to merge.
In Australia, they have cheap party packs that put a 5 liter party pack in plastic at cheap price.
Wine is an alcoholic drink. Alcohol is toxic to the nervous system.
Bordeaux brands have always been labelled with Snobs, high prices and so many labels making difficult to have a favorite one
New Canadian guidelines are saying that more than 2 drinks per week is bad for your health. As someone who grew up believing that 1-2 drinks/day was Ok this is depressing news but in truth I am slowly cutting back. Sigh.
Islam is the answer .
I would only buy French wine, but it’s difficult to find here.
I’m from Hong Kong and I support Bordeaux wines a lot! Don’t give up — please keep making these wonderful wines for everyone on Earth! ❤
Legalize cannabis. It's rather good for the human body. I bet it would grow fantastically up there😍 I live in a legalized state in the US😬
oh La La for me! People aren't drinking as much alcohol now. Great to see more choice of non-alcoholic. Like many businesses through the decades they all have to diversify.
We are in Australia and we have big wines shops here compared with UK and other European countries, but the non alcoholic selection is very small. Found a couple of good ones tho..
Double & triple it's production in the early nineties and bought the juice from other locations to boost the production "profit" the old dying out and the young generation consume a lot less due to health issue and cost. Forcing its produce to the third world countries, where all the money it made years ago. Cultural and lifestyle are unique to the French heritage, when it turns heavily commercial "greedy", the system collapsed. Sad for the genuine bodegas with knowledge and passion carried for centuries.
the baby boomers probably are still the biggest demographic of people who buy wines.. their children the X gens grew up with boomer parents and drinking wines and champs was part of our culture.
but our children werent exposed to the drinking culture of wine as we were and our kids dont like the idea of spending 50 bucks.. or 100 bucks on a bottle of wine of bubbly.
so I am not sure the culture can survive with the Alpha generation either..
even beer and cocktail sales are down.. nightclubs are closing, there are less bars, pubs and discos than in the 70s, 80s and 90s… so.. wow.. not sure how this industry will look in 30 years…
Ahhh over production. Have you tried flooding the Chinese Market?
You know what I miss? Good table wines for a decent price. I worked in a wine store for 10 years. I quit 9 years ago. The simple but tasty table wines I used to sell back then have doubled (and sometimes even more) in price. The quality is the same but what was once an affordable good value for money wine isn’t just that anymore. So now I buy less. Or actually I stop to think about the price and then decide to buy less.
Not a great fan of French wines in the UK, usually too dry, insipid or can only be drunk with strong flavoured food.
I guess you have to adapt to survive but alcohol free wine, isn't that just grape juice? 😂
Maybe they should start boxing it and doing a wine cooler.
This is narrated like only poor winemakers are forced to adapt to survive – like who is not?
Every businessman is pressed by the hand of the market.
Every employee is pressed by the hand of the job market.
Adapt or die – this is universal
(of course, except for privileged and strong ones)
I was put off French wines years ago over reports of pesticide levels. Is it still a problem? The other thing I don't like is that Sulphite levels are not given. In some countries this is required.. I also avoid Californian wines…
More space for nature or producing actual nutrition.
"The state" is doing no one a favour. Our farmers are struggeling in some markets, they have never had subsidies, are one of the biggest high end producers and will grow through trying new things. Australia.
When I was a kid, most people had red wine on the table for lunch. In restaurants, you were served a "pichet de rouge" (pitcher of red wine) almost without asking. Nowadays, nobody drinks red wine anymore for lunch, except on special occasions.
So they're killing off vineyards and supply, in order to keep the prices up.
How about let the market decide, sell for 10-20% less.
Go organic 🎉
Just too much supply.
This is similar to restaurant eating. Each generation helps to transform what’s available to eat out. The big trend is towards bowls and wraps because that’s what young people eat. They also love Taco Bell over hamburgers.
The result is that you have to really hunt for a good meal out. And since dinner parties are no longer popular, that means wine for two at home. That’s ok but with beef prices up sky high, more people are eating chicken, so less red wine.
Reduce prices, stop over priced product.