From the southwestern and Mediterranean coasts to the Pyrénées, vines are being uprooted. It's a tangible sign of the crisis facing the French wine industry. In the major red wine-producing regions, production potential is being reduced. The same applies to Cognac. "Structurally and cyclically, the situation has worsened almost everywhere in recent months," noted Bernard Farges, a winegrower in the Bordeaux region and president of the National Committee of Protected Designation of Origin and Geographical Indication of Origin Wines (CNIV).

For some years now, vats have been overflowing. The result has been painful pressure on prices. Even though the 2024 harvest was not very abundant, with excess humidity contributing to mildew attacks, stocks are still there. To explain this delicate situation, talk is all about the trend of wine, and particularly red wine, being consumed less and less. This is not a new phenomenon.

The decline began at the turn of the 1960s. According to the CNIV, volumes consumed by the French have almost halved, from 46 to 22.7 million hectoliters in 2024. The decline is particularly clear in supermarkets, where only one out of every two bottles is sold. In 2024, supermarket sales eroded by a further 4.1% in volume and 2.3% in value year-on-year, for a total estimated value of €5.8 billion.

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