A creeping optimism about France's prospects on the much
sought-after UK wine market appeared to be taking hold of several
French wine producers and exporters at an industry show this week.
French wine authorities have been criticised for creating three
more appellation contrôlée wine areas at a time when France is
trying to simplify its wine offering to consumers.
As French winemakers prepare for the annual rush to pull in this
year's grape harvest, anyone who does not own a Chateau is looking
cautiously ahead at another year of problems.
The 'South of France' wine brand, covering thousands of producers
in France's biggest wine region, is set to hit supermarkets next
year as winemakers look to regroup against the New World onslaught.
French wine makers are planning a new protest in Narbonne, the
centre of violent scenes earlier this year, in answer to the
continuing low prices on the market and poor government support.
Prices for quality French wines have continued to crumble in recent
months as the gap closes between them and their less regulated
counterparts, leaving ominous signs for the future of some in the
industry.
Under-pressure vintners in southern France have handed out 50,000
free bottles of wine to tourists to publicise their plight as
prices continue to crumble amid a huge bottleneck in supply.
Crisis in the French wine industry is spurring producers'
acceptance of aggressive marketing strategies that, whilst perhaps
long-overlooked, could be worrying for foreign producers on an
increasingly competitive world market,...
As chunks of the French wine industry descend into chaos, one
family firm is standing tall, proudly talking of a strong sales
rise based on clever marketing tactics that producers worldwide
could learn from.
More action is needed from both government and industry alike if
the steady decline in French wine exports is to be halted, a junior
minister has warned. New World producers could soon take over as
the major exporters to Europe if...