£57 million package to grub up vineyards

When most people think of Bordeaux they think of high priced wines in demand, but there is huge swathes of unsellable plonk that is causing financial stress at the bottom of the market.

This week the French government announced plans to pay £57 million pounds to grub up 9,500 ha of Bordeaux 108,000 hectares, nearly 9% of total vineyards in Bordeaux.

The announcement came after wine growers called for strikes, in demand for money to grub up vineyards and pay for the storage of wine that has not been sold. Last month, a survey conducted by Gironde’s chamber of agriculture found that one third of the region’s winemakers were facing financial difficulty.