Wine-makers destroy vines in lip service to glut crisis

The initiative - which represents a first in the history of Bordeaux - is one element of Plan Bordeaux, introduced a year ago by Onivins, the French wine-makers' association, in an effort to control the over-production crisis facing the industry.

However, the 1,800 hectares of vines which will be dug out represent only a tiny percentage of the 124,000 hectares of vineyards in the Gironde department and officials say they are disappointed by producers' poor response to their appeals to destroy more vines. The president of Onivins, Christian Delpeuch, estimates that to effectively reduce over-production of Bordeaux, producers would have to agree to rip out between 8,000 and 10,000 hectares - a goal he hopes to reach within three years.

"It's really very little indeed and it's disappointing," Yves Amecourt, the general secretary of the union of Bordeaux wine producers, said of the offer to destroy 1,800 hectares.

"Wine producers are unwilling to rip out vines because they are their tool of production, but they haven't realised the degree of overproduction to which Bordeaux has fallen victim," he added.

The Interprofessional Wine Committee of Bordeaux (CIVB), which represents producers, has pledged to provide compensation at the rate of 15,000 per hectare dug up during 2006. As an incentive to encourage producers to act quickly, the compensation will decrease next year to 12,000 per hectare.

While collectors are still prepared to pay exorbitant prices for the top Bordeaux vintages, which include Chateau Latour, Chateau Lafitte-Rothschild, Chateau Margeaux, Chateau Haut-Brion and Chateau Mouton Rothschild, the region is home to roughly another 8,000 chateaux producing somewhere around 600 million bottles of wine a year.

Bordeaux has been in crisis for several years as it faces increased international competition from New World wines from Australia, South Africa, the US and New Zealand along with plunging red wine consumption in France.

According to the CIVB, exports to the US slumped by 35 per cent in volume and 59 percent in value in 2004 compared to 2003 while sales to Britain fell by 21 per cent in volume and 33 per cent in value. Overall exports fell by 10 per cent in volume and 24 per cent in value.

While officials are disappointed with the low response to their call to rip up vines, Jean-Francois Bertran de Balanda, the regional representative of Onivins, is hopeful for the future.

"The machine is en route," he said, adding: "There will be more requests [to destroy vines] next year with the pressure brought by the crisis."