Bordeaux wine rests on its laurels | Business | EUROtoday

A couple of kilometers from the city of Carracedelo (León), the Mencía vineyards of French winegrower Gregory Pérez dangle over a pink clay terrain like mountaineers who love rappelling. Gregory skilled at Cos D’Estournel, one of many nice homes (2ème Cru) of Bordeaux, within the Médoc area. These days, the well-known French area has an issue unimaginable in a wine delusion: it should uproot vineyards and inexperienced prune (reduce the clusters earlier than they ripen) as a result of wine costs have plummeted. The French Government will subsidize the lack of the vineyards with 200 million euros and can use the alcohol for merchandise similar to hydrogels or perfumes. The official determine for misplaced vineyards is 9,500 hectares. However, all of the consultants consulted estimate that it’s a brief quantity. “At least 30,000 are left over,” says one of many sources consulted. The designation of origin has 14,000 producers and 113,000 hectares. And 43% are generic wines, of little worth. Gregory wears a inexperienced short-sleeved t-shirt from the vineyard (Mengoba) and an identical cap with the emblem. “They haven’t done anything for three decades, they haven’t traveled, they haven’t done any commercial action, they have rested on their laurels; “They just put Bordeaux on the label and think that’s enough,” he says whereas trying out a avenue of vines. “In addition, wine has not evolved with new tastes,” he warns.

The temperature doesn’t drop a single diploma within the non-negotiable warmth of late August in Valladolid. Peter Sisseck —who makes that tumbler jewel that’s Pingus, about 1,200 euros— prepares the harvest. He remembers how within the space known as Entre-deux-Mers (“between two seas”, within the Gironde division, Bordeaux) corn was raised within the nineties to plant vineyards and make cheaper wines for the cabinets of the supermarkets. “The classic vines will not be uprooted, but rather the lowest quality ones,” he clarifies. “It’s a good idea because there is an overproduction of bad wines.”

Europe subsidizes—based on The Guardian— with 1,060 million euros yearly within the sector. Jean-Philippe Granier, technical director of Languedoc AOC, a designation of origin in Spanish, has acknowledged that the area is producing an excessive amount of and gross sales costs have fallen above manufacturing prices. While a lizard runs alongside the white lime of one of many partitions of the Sisseck vineyard, additional down, within the over-publicized golden mile of Ribera del Duero, Pablo Álvarez, CEO of Tempos Vega Sicilia, proposes a calculation. “In Bordeaux there are about 80 wineries [pertenecientes a ese 12% de châteaux avalado por su localización en pueblos míticos] “They don’t have problems, the rest do.”

The geopolitics of wine have also changed. In 2020, Álvarez says, China raised Bordeaux prices incredibly, now they cost 50% less than in 2010. And as in other sectors, there is a return towards autarky. “70% of the wine sold in the United States is from the country itself,” he admits. “We are going through a generational change, and the challenge is to attract young people [que optan por cerveza u otras bebidas] along with the new wine lovers,” says Álvarez. Furthermore, she shares a glance with Gregory: “Bordeaux has rested on its laurels.”

Of course, not all the area misplaced its compass. The Liv-ex platform, which values ​​and exchanges wine as if it had been inventory market shares, states that “Bordeaux’s top brands (Petrus, Lafite-Rothschild, Mouton-Rothschild, etc.) will always find buyers.” And he particulars: “The most important châteaux do not need state support.”

Near the vineyards of Vega Sicilia, on the opposite facet of the Duero, in Tudela (Valladolid), Bodegas Mauro takes root. Alberto García, its common director, warns that what Bordeaux is struggling can be transferred to Rioja. In the 2021-2022 marketing campaign – knowledge from the Ministry of Agriculture – it had 66,653 hectares and the variety of registered winegrowers – based on the Spanish Wine Market Observatory – was 14,300. Some 737 wineries in comparison with Ribera’s 336. “The market has to be regulated, and if it is at the expense of producers it will have to be, unfortunately, that way. What you cannot do is support something that lacks economic viability with public money.” And he warns: “The winegrowers themselves will have to uproot or prune green; If despite everything the numbers are red, they will have to close.” The market construction of Bordeaux could be very outlined. Generic, municipal wines or wines with the first, 2ème, 3ème or 4ème Cru label, a classification that has designated the elite of the Médoc since 1855. “The problem is being suffered above all by the second and third division houses,” the restaurateur clarifies and sommelier Luis García de la Navarra. “There is a punishment for these banners. Some, in one year, went, for no apparent reason, from 30 to 80 euros.” Perhaps they thought that the Chinese market would all the time be there ready for them.

But in France, wine is the story of oblivion and of two areas: Bordeaux and Burgundy. The latter finally seems to be resistant to the forces of attraction. First due to its small measurement. In 2022 it had almost 30,000 hectares coated by the designation of origin that produced 1.72 million hectoliters. However, it continues to be probably the most appreciated and costly area of the planet to purchase vineyards or produce. “The last three Burgundy harvests were weak, even so the demand was enormous,” describes distributor Quim Vila. “Their great wines are all sold, and we still need more.” Only 5% are Grand Cru [se ha llegado a pagar más de 20 millones de euros por una hectárea] and there are those that purchase them for pleasure or for funding. “Well, 2% or 3% has absurdly high prices,” criticizes Peter.

Perhaps France has made an enormous mistake: ignoring that the wine planet, like others, has modified. They not promote the labels. The competitors is immense. Hundreds of 1000’s of references. “Young people don’t start with Bordeaux, there are wines from Jura, Alsace, Savoy, Burgundy,” displays Juan Manuel Bellver, director of Lavinia Spain. “Or they prefer fresh reds from the Loire.” In addition, this complete enticing universe of natural or biodynamic has arrived. And Spain, Italy or the New World make wines which might be less expensive and of monumental high quality.

The lizard climbs onto the glass window that overlooks Peter Sisseck’s laboratory. Take benefit of the solar. It’s colder in Bordeaux.

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