3 ms·

I'm not defending bailouts of winemakers, but based on my knowledge of the industry, the government would simply be unable to sell the wine at market prices. Th

I'm not defending bailouts of winemakers, but based on my knowledge of the industry, the government would simply be unable to sell the wine at market prices. They would probably need to be sold at a loss. France has been over-producing low-quality wine for a long time, mostly in the south as referenced in the article. These bottles normally sell for 2-5 euros at retail within Europe. There is a massive amount of competition at this price point. Also not mentioned in the article is that French wine is falling out of favor in lower price categories. Spanish and Portugese wines are growing in popularity as are so-called "natural" wines.

mytailorisrich 3y ago
Excess production of wine not wanted by the market will continue since the government is effectively, and nonsensically, susidising it.
- ffhhttt 3y ago
  A lot of other countries are doing something similar with diary or other food products. You don’t want to lose the capacity to produce vital products like wine or cheese in case some unexpected event happens. What if 30% of all wineries close and you have a severe drought in a few years. It would result in a extreme humanitarian tragedy…