Bottles of wine from the Bordeaux region on display at Vinexpo in New York, March 2, 2020 (AFP/Archives/Angela Weiss)
What is the right price for a bottle of Bordeaux? Wine growers harmed by overproduction are demanding a “remunerative” price and the inter-professional association is bringing them together on Monday with traders and distributors, against the backdrop of a national debate around agricultural floor prices.
Bottles sold in supermarkets at 1.89 euros, or even 1.66 euros in the case of group purchases, this is what exasperates the Viti33 collective which has blocked several trading or distribution sites in Gironde in recent weeks.
Such a low price, “it’s a shame!”, thunders Didier Cousiney, its spokesperson, to AFP. “For a winemaker to make a living from his profession, the bottle must be sold for around 2.70 euros or 3 euros” minimum, he estimates.
But in fact, the lower consumption of wine and the difficulties in exporting have led to overproduction in the largest AOC vineyard in France (103,000 hectares) and a collapse in bulk prices. At the start of 2023, a third of the approximately 5,000 Bordeaux winegrowers declared themselves in difficulty.
Some have sold off the 900 liter barrel for 600 euros to empty their cellars and free up some cash, while a “remunerative price” is around 1,300 or 1,400 euros, estimates Viti33.
– “Aboveground” –
A level that some traders consider “above ground” but the Interprofessional Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB), which brings together winegrowers and trading houses, considers the request “legitimate”.
View of Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Grand Cru Classe de Graves, taken on September 22, 2023 in Martillac, in Gironde (POOL/AFP/Archives/Bob Edme)
“I agree 200% that we find a convergence of interests which will cause the price to rise,” comments Jacques Bouey, of the Bouey trading house. “But a single actor cannot fantasize about regulating prices.”
Winegrowers are encouraged by a decision of the Bordeaux commercial court, which at the end of February condemned traders accused of having violated the EGalim law by purchasing wine in bulk at a price deemed “abusively low”. They appealed.
Above all, the sector noted Emmanuel Macron’s declarations advocating “floor” agricultural prices. An environmentalist bill to this effect was adopted at first reading Thursday evening in the National Assembly, but without the text agreeing with the government, nor with the deputies of the presidential majority.
For the moment, “a floor price that would apply to all Bordeaux wines would be problematic”, considers Léna Sersiron, partner at the firm Baker McKenzie.
In 2018, the Competition Authority, for example, sanctioned a Côtes du Rhône union for having developed minimum price scales.
“But when we heard the President of the Republic, we said: Bordeaux is willing to participate in the reflection,” declared to AFP Allan Sichel, president of the CIVB, who invited around thirty actors from the sector.
– Producer organization –
Before this round table, a united union front agreed on the objective of “remuneration based on production costs, established by independent indicators”, and Viti33 expects “strong messages”.
“I intend to have some,” replies Allan Sichel. “But it’s not a wave of a magic wand that’s going to solve everything.”
Viti33 also wants to bring together winegrowers in a producer organization (PO) to have more influence in commercial negotiations.
“The PO must be imagined as one and the same company. Its members can decide to mandate the PO with a view to determining a common price,” analyzes Léna Sersiron.
This formula, an exception to competition law, makes it possible to define framework contracts which would be binding on traders. The CIVB sees this as a possible option, but not a “panacea” because the fixed price must still find a buyer on the market.
According to the inter-professional association, prices should rise again: the subsidized grubbing up of some 8,000 hectares in Gironde by the end of May, the state-funded distillation of part of the surplus and the small 2023 harvest (3.8 million hectares). ‘hectoliters), notably due to mildew, reduced supply.
“The balance will return with or without the OP”, estimates Renaud Jean, winegrower in Entre-deux-mers and member of Viti33. “We must therefore create it before nature makes us believe that the problems are behind us.”
© 2024 AFP
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