Wine cooperation: full vats in cellars, poor sales and Spanish wines fuel anger

Plus de revenus, du vin en stock dans les caves coopératives et la récolte dans six mois : le Gardois Freddy Paulet (2e à gauche) et ses collègues vignerons sont extrêmement inquiets. Midi Libre – E. L.

Les vignerons coopérateurs font face à de sévères difficultés. Dans les vignobles, la colère gronde.

"The anger is so great that there will be drama. What our parents gave us, if it continues, we will eat it up in six months". There are five of them on this chilly morning in a vineyard in Saint-Geniès-de-Malgoirès, a stone's throw from the imposing cooperative cellar, tossing and turning this word of despair.

In these territories of Gard, the wine-growing villages have become those of rural dwellers, working in Nîmes, in Alès and not in Montpellier, the land pressure having caused subdivisions to grow in place of vines. 

Meet in Montredon

"Montredon in 1976, it started like this: the wine was no longer sold, the vats were full, we threw it in the street. We are at exactly the same point!" s'exclaims Freddy Paulet. Montredon, this Aude village where the&# The clash between gendarmes and winegrowers caused two deaths, one on each side, 48 years ago, remains a strong symbol. The five Gardois go there every year on the second Sunday in March so as not to forget the bloody confrontation. They will not miss the meeting this Sunday, which will also be an opportunity to meet winegrowers from Aude and those from Hérault.

The beginnings of an episode two of the agricultural revolt ? "If the State does nothing, all the appellations will be in crisis and cooperative cellars in bankruptcy. Average production in the former Languedoc-Roussillon is around 11.5 million hectoliters: currently, there are 5 million left in the cellar! And we harvest in six months!" 

Too much Spanish wine

The argument put forward by the State of deconsumption as the main cause of poor sales ulcers the Gardois: "If we compare to the consumption of the 60s when each French person drank 100 liters per year, obviously, that has nothing to do with it (Editor's note, consumption is now more like 40 liters per year per inhabitant) , but our problem does not come from this long-term development, but from imports of cheap Spanish wines. Between 6 and 7 million hectoliters come in! Let's put a brake on imports, and authorize distillation because we are heading for disaster…" esteems Freddy Paulet. 

The two oldest of the group, Jean-Marie Tremoullet and Alain Dumont have passed it on to their children. Alain wonders about the future: "Macron had announced a minimum agricultural retirement level of 1,200 €, for my part, I receive 860 €. I still have five years to repay my PGE (loan guaranteed by the State). In the end, I have nothing left." Jean-Marie Tremoullet farmed 55 hectares, he uprooted 25. "The farmer maintains the landscape, if the environments close in, we will have fires like in California, it will burn from Toulouse to Nice, the State must hear it."

"Zero income"

All took part in the February blockades, in actions against neighboring supermarkets which offered Spanish wine cheaper than mineral water, sometimes in cardboard cartons. The aid announced by the minister ? "Very few applications are eligible, you must justify a drop in harvest and/or turnover of 20% between 2018 and 2023. But that's the harvest 2023, paid in 2024 which remains on our hands. In cooperation, we receive deposits on the upcoming harvest over ten months, then a balance over the other two months. For my part, I have zero balance, therefore zero income for two months, sighs Freddy Paulet who hopes that none of his three boys ;has the idea of ​​resuming operations one day.  

Viticultural action committees

Actions. At the initiative of the FNSEA, numerous village entrance signs were turned around to illustrate the slogan of the powerful agricultural union "We're walking on our heads".But here we also see the reappearance in Aude and Gard of tags bearing the inscription CAV, such as wine action committees, followers of wine production. more muscular operations. The desperate situations of certain cooperators, having already benefited last year from deferrals from banks or their suppliers, could lead to seizures. "If bailiffs intervene on a farm , we will come in numbers to prevent them", says Jean-Marie Tremoullet.

Montredon. In March 1976, the crisis was at its peak, the committees of' wine stocks have launched a commando operation against the largest importer of Italian wine based in Ain. Audois are arrested and anger explodes in Narbonne. Collections, highway tolls, television relays were destroyed during the night of March 3 to 4. The blockade of the Montredon bridge turns into a confrontation and exchanges of fire. A wine grower falls, as does a CRS commander. A wreath will be placed at the foot of each of the two stelae, on each side of the bridge, this Sunday.

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