Richard over at EU Referendum takes the Common booze production policy to task this morning, mainly of the possibility of differential subsidies for the destruction of wine making capacity – or in common parlance the rooting up of vineyards. Basically it looks as if the new countries of the EU will be offered bigger bucks to close down their vineyards, leaving the French with the lions share of the European market – the irony being that there is no overproduction in the east but there is – guess where?
One thing that his misses out is another piece of legislation that has started to wind its way through the nooks and crannies of Euroville. Discussed a fortnight ago at the Parliament’s Wine Intergroup was an action plan. Along with the legislation to grub up vines to keep prices up, another is to ban the sugaring of wine to improve alcohol content in poor quality wines, or ‘Chaptalisation’ (which makes wine cheaper and is also currently subsidised – the Must regieme). From the discussions being held I can pretty well guarantee that though the grubbing up of efficient eastern European vineyards will go ahead. The banning of chaptalisation however will be blocked.
Here is a list of those places in the European Union where the process is allowed:
Alsace
Bordeaux
Burgundy
Champagne
England (However English wines do not qualify for EU subsidies)
Germany - for certain wines
1 comment:
Why are the French so perverse in their thinking? Driving the price of wine up will do only one thing: make other continents' wine more attractive to customers.
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