The French government is allocating €200m (£171.6m) to destroy surplus wine and support producers.
It comes amid a cocktail of problems for the industry, including a falling demand for wine as more people drink craft beer.
Overproduction and the cost of living crisis are also hitting the industry.
Most of the €200m will be used to buy excess stock, with the alcohol sold for use in items such as hand sanitiser, cleaning products and perfume.
That’s a bummer, but I do appreciate how France supports it’s artisanal culture and producers. It’s nice being able to have a decent glass of wine at just about any brasserie or cafe in Paris for under 10 euro. In the US it is like 12 bucks a glass for some pretty mediocre wine.
I was gonna guess you’re American even before reading your last sentence, because €10 for a glass of wine is outrageous by European standards. Hehe.
I’m in Eastern Europe right now, and I typically get a half-liter of very good local wine for less than €5.
Even in France you can get an whole bottle of an excellent Bordeaux or Côtes du Rhône Villages for less than €5
If you got charged €10 for a glass you must have a big neon “TOURIST” sign on your head 😂
You can buy very decent wine for less than 3€/bottle in any Portuguese supermarket 😅
I wasn’t gonna mention supermarket prices… The poor Americans have it rough enough already. 😁
The price/quality ratio of wine in French supermarkets is absolutely crazy. You can walk in to a shabby corner store and get an absolutely decent Bordeaux for pocket change.
Douro still wine is under rated. I love ports, but was so surprised by the reds. Unfortunately rich American and European retirees are going to ruin Portugal
The retirees don’t last so long (sorry), but overtourism is indeed a problem. Finding the right balance is the secret but clearly our politicians are not aiming for that… but in fairness, tourism was fantastic for many years to promote Porto’s renewal. But now it’s time to put a break on it but no one is interested in that :/
French here
None of this money will ever end in anything artisanal
This is for industrial wine and big lands owners that fund mains politicals parties
Then they will have another round of public money because of bad weather, then another because ebil chileans do better and cheaper whine then another because of so much money we have to salary accountants to put all of this in tax havens
Those scams are running since decades
As an American, I am seething