Bordeaux, minimum price and attractiveness as a “recipe” for getting out of the crisis

The debate on the future of wine in Bordeaux continues, discussing the new paths to be taken to emerge from a crisis which mainly, but not only, involves “entry level” products. The size of the vineyard removals is not enough, the “hot” issue for the present and tomorrow is that of a minimum price to be set to avoid situations in which the risk is that of not making it. It is no coincidence that Allan Sichel, president of the Interprofessional Council of Bordeaux Wines (CIVB), said in the general assembly, as reported by the specialized website “Vitisphere”, that “many colleagues are unfortunately faced with an uncertain future. This anguish touches us deeply. In some cases, it is the consequence of unacceptable transaction prices, which respond to an immediate need for cash flow, but are very far from covering production costs.”
In the past there had even been talk of reporting those who purchase for less than 1,000 euros/ton, and the president of the Civb nevertheless noted that the issue of the profitable price is shared by distribution and the Government. “If the rules of free competition are opposed to any agreement on prices, we must still find solutions so that every winemaker can live from their work”. And therefore, concretely, “we want to define the indicators that will serve to calibrate the price of the upstream contract, adapt the Egalim law to the specificities of our sector, protect operators from the risk of charging abusively low prices, intensify the field of action of the sector wine in distribution and put an end to Bordeaux as an attractive product at rock-bottom prices.” But on the revision of the Egalim law, Allan Sichel remains cautious: “We know that it will not be possible to decree a minimum price applied in a mandatory, systematic and indiscriminate manner. The objective is rather to determine appropriate indicators that allow the prices of the upstream contract to be calibrated”. The president of the Civb is also realistic in recognizing that “whatever we implement it will be difficult to prevent any possibility of circumvention. We will have to be vigilant, but this will also require responsibility from all stakeholders.”
Meanwhile, the 2023 vintage, thanks to the mold phenomenon, should cause a reduction in excess stocks and allow demand to be revived. “Our projections tell us that we will get close to breaking even in volumes in the coming weeks”, underlines Allan Sichel, adding however that “there is no reason to rejoice about this since it is only the result of distillation, harvesting and the very low 2023 harvest which have significantly reduced the available volumes, bringing them closer to those marketed. However, this balance is an absolutely necessary prerequisite for all players in the sector and must contribute to the recovery of the lower prices of red Bordeaux.” A revaluation which is also aimed at by the Civb’s “Ensemble tous singulars/Join the Bordeaux crew” campaign, launched in February in France and then Belgium, Great Britain and the United States. The objective is to put the attractiveness of Bordeaux wines at the center of all the actors in the supply chain.