Just before the holiday season the French authorities have sneaked in a substantial increase in the permitted yields for Vins de Pays and Vins de Table. Maximum yields for Vins de Pays rise from 85 to 105 hl/ha for reds, pinks and vins gris and from 90 to 110 hl/ha for whites.
For Vins de Table, the lowest of the low of which there is such an embarrassing surplus already, permitted yields are now 130 hl/ha. Describing these increases as ‘moderate’, the authorities are patting themselves on the back for not having adopted the proposals from producers that these should be raised to – 300 hl/ha!
Producers had apparently been angling to be allowed to have the Vins de Pays maximum raised to 120 hl/ha. All this comes just after the announcement of the new super-elastic Vins de Pays.
It really doesn’t seem as though the French are very serious about adopting measures to control surpluses, does it? Surely there will be trouble ahead when the EU authorities try to press through the rigorous pruning proposals of Mrs Fischer Boel on reform of the EU wine market.
It really doesn’t seem as though the French are very serious about adopting measures to control surpluses, does it? Surely there will be trouble ahead when the EU authorities try to press through the rigorous pruning proposals of Mrs Fischer Boel on reform of the EU wine market.