In good years, about 7,000 Bordeaux wineries produce over 800 million bottles of wine a year. Bordeaux is not only a lot of bottles, but also a lot of money: the total value of the annual production of the 2018 crop was over 4 billion euros. About half of all Bordeaux wines are exported worldwide.
Problem: the amount of wine is too much. This mainly affects wineries far from well-known regions that specialize in inexpensive Bordeaux. Production of such wines often costs less than one euro per bottle and ends up on supermarket shelves both in France and especially in China, the UK and the USA.
Hard times for cheap Bordeaux
Several factors cause headaches for winemakers of cheap Bordeaux wines. First, the French are drinking less and less wine, so sales in France are falling. In the current economic situation, the Chinese have also become more reluctant to buy cheap Bordeaux. There is fierce competition for the cheapest of all price segments as well, as countries like Spain, Chile or Australia offer just as good or better wines for the same price.
The problem of excess wine exists not only in Bordeaux, but also in other EU countries. Until 2006, vineyard growers were promised a premium of 15,000 euros per hectare if they uprooted their vineyard and used the land for other purposes. In Bordeaux, however, vineyard growers are no longer allowed to claim such EU amounts and are forced to leave their grape plantations.
Given the current difficult situation, there is currently a heated debate over whether such a bonus should be reintroduced. Some want the reintroduction of the vineyard premium of 10,000 euros per hectare of vineyards.
Even Allan Sichel (60), the current President of the CIVB (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux), wants Bordeaux vineyards to be reduced by around ten percent to bring supply and demand back into balance. However, it is unclear whether such a measure will actually ease the current situation.