The Languedoc vineyards will uproot a large part of their vines: a blessing in disguise ?

Fewer vines, landscapes disrupted in our region. Maxppp – Christian Watier

"A disguised social plan"

However, this Languedoc, a traditional land of red wine, already appeared in the FranceAgriMer survey as the first vineyard that could be sacrificed. Winegrowers have reported a potential of 10,000 hectares that could be uprooted, or 5% of the current surface area, but “this could be double”, deplores Héraultais Jérôme Despey, first vice-president of the FNSEA.

Speaking to our colleagues at L'Indépendant, the president of the Vignerons coopératifs Occitanie, Ludovic Roux from Aude, is even counting on “nearly 50,000 ha in Occitanie” in view of “the catastrophic state of the sector. We have wineries that are not selling and which, this year, will make half of what they usually make”. However, according to him, this sum of 4,000 euros per hectare, once the cost of the work has been deducted, “it's a disguised social plan. Six months ago, the average value of a vineyard was 8,000 euros per hectare”.His colleague Frédéric Rouanet, president of the Aude winegrowers' union, nevertheless believes that this unique opportunity could lead to the sacrifice of 15,000 ha in the Aude, or nearly 25% of the surface area currently occupied by vines in the department.

“Our landscapes are bound to be disrupted”, continues Yvon Pellet, who fears that the most impacted lands will be the least irrigated, for which any diversification therefore seems almost impossible. He also fears a butterfly effect, particularly in cooperative wineries “where there will be fewer contributors, and so will the volume of production. The costs will be passed on to those who remain. This will lead to restructuring, mergers perhaps". A crisis within the crisis in perspective. “This uprooting is a bandage on a patient who needs a real horse remedy”.

A turn to take

In the Gard, the president of the AOP Costières de Nîmes Cyril Marès understands that the measure had become “a necessary evil” for some. He would have preferred that this money be invested differently "notably to work on adapting the sector in light of market developments". Moreover, if its appellation should be preserved – "it will be marginally, rather to resize certain estates in relation to their sales capacity »-, it is what the Costières had anticipated.“We were less in a situation of rent than other AOPs, this has forced us in recent years to initiate a shift, to modernize our production and therefore our offer”.

A model to follow ? We still have to survive and get through this new crisis. However, Yvon Pellet is not sure that uprooting is the ideal solution. “Supply and demand are not so mathematical, there are so many other factors that come into play in the wine market”. Trading, importing foreign wines that shakes up the market… So many problems still to be resolved.

“A demand, a heartbreak”

Jérôme Despey from Hérault is the first vice-president of the FNSEA. He took part in the negotiations between the French State and Brussels. Interview.

Should we be satisfied with the uprooting measures submitted by the State to the European Commission??

This was expected from the vineyard to enable those who are experiencing difficulties to get by. The sector has suffered a succession of obstacles since 2019, between the Trump taxes (which restrict exports), the deconsumption (of wine), Covid, climatic hazards, inflation, etc. Beyond an emergency fund that was set up, the possibility of grubbing up was therefore in high demand and we had been in negotiations with the European Commission since February because this is not a mechanism that can be included in the CAP. A legal avenue was found, by linking it to aid for companies affected by the consequences of the conflict in Ukraine. We fought to obtain it and support those who need it, but it remains heartbreaking to move towards decapitalization. Furthermore, we wanted an envelope of 150 million euros to be mobilized but the arbitration stopped at 120 million euros. I would finally have liked it if we could support this so-called definitive uprooting mechanism with another one for temporary uprooting.

It's a “no” definitive for temporary removal ?

Fortunately not, but it could not be included in this Ukraine crisis mechanism. It will therefore be one of the priorities, as soon as the new Minister of Agriculture is appointed, as part of a sector plan that we must build. We must think of those who want to continue and give them the opportunity to uproot vines that are no longer suitable to convert their vineyard and conquer new market shares by adapting to the demand for new products, around dealcoholization, fresher wines, aperitif wines…

On the definitive uprooting, 4,000 euros per hectare, it is sufficient?

Obviously not. But it was the solution, in the emergency, to integrate this only regulatory framework that was found and thus allow its launch from mid-October, as soon as Brussels has given its approval.

Insufficient, however, the demand in the region could be greater than the figures transmitted by France Agrimer…

Indeed, only a small part of the profession had responded to this survey, perhaps because many were waiting to know about the system. There is therefore a real risk that we will go beyond the 22,500 hectares on the national level, this level of demand for grubbing that the survey had revealed. I even fear that we will reach 10% of the total surface area in Languedoc.

This is a new sign of the crisis that is hitting the sector?

I have never experienced such tension during the grape harvest. The harvest is down sharply due to climatic hazards, we are experiencing a 20 to 30% increase in operating costs, there is no price rebound for the time being… We will have to respond to this now structural crisis with new strong measures.

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