The beast................................................................................and the beauty.
Posted on 07/08/2004 7:42:19 PM PDT by ijcr
Faced with what some are calling its greatest crisis for 150 years, France's most prestigious winegrowing region has decided to cut back the amount of wine it sells.
The Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB), which includes legendary names such as Chateau Latour, Chateau Margaux and Chateau Haut Brion and countless smaller producers, independent wine merchants, trade unions and cooperatives, said yesterday that its members had agreed to limit sales from this season's harvest to 50 hectolitres (5,000 litres) per hectare.
Anything more would be stored until the CIVB decided that conditions had improved.
It is an unprecedented decision which will reduce the volume of 2004 vintage Bordeaux sold by 15% to 35% compared with last year.
A spokeswoman said the decision made by an emergency council meeting on Thursday had been "very difficult, but had to be taken". She added: "We are simply producing far more than we can sell. Prices have collapsed dramatically; we have to reduce supply in the hope they'll pick up again."
Bordeaux, which produces some of the world's grandest wines, has seen the wholesale price of a standard AOC (appellation d'origine controlée) red collapse by almost half in the past three years, to far below the point where winemaking can be profitable.
A 900-litre barrel now sells at €710 (£473) to €760, or €0.62 a bottle wholesale, compared with €1,500 in the late 1990s, industry observers say, and in the past 12 months exports have fallen by 9%. Ten to 20% of the region's 9,000 producers are in varying degrees of financial difficulty.
"The collapse in price of some Bordeaux AOCs has reached an unacceptable level that threatens the viability of our vineyards, the unity of our industry, the stability of our institutions and our image in France and the world," said Jean-Louis Trocard, the CIVB's president.
"This situation cannot continue. Everyone has got to accept their responsibilities and act accordingly." The CIVB is also proposing that hundreds of hectares of vineyards currently disused or the subject of inheritance fights should be uprooted to help pull the region out of the crisis, which is grave enough to have been compared by some to the phylloxera plague that almost wiped out France's winemaking industry in the early 1860s.
Bordeaux's problems in part reflect those of the whole French winemaking business.
Domestic consumption is half what it was 25 years ago, and export sales are in steep decline, suffering from the competition of more consistent, easier to identify, cheaper and more drinkable "New World" wines from Australia, California, South Africa and Chile.
In the euphoria of the mid-1990s, when a basic red brought €1,500 a barrel, many producers invested heavily in new equipment and land. The Bordelais has grown from 75,000 hectares (183,000 acres) of vineyards in 1980 to more than 120,000 now. It can produce 7m hectolitres (154m gallons) of wine, but can currently sell less than 5m.
Although they have agreed to be bound by the sales ceiling, the best-known Bordeaux Chateaux have so far escaped the crisis: the premiers and deuxièmes grands crus classés, helped by their reputation and easily remembered names, more than doubled their prices on the 2003 vintage.
It is the producers of generic Bordeaux wines (the region has a highly confusing 57 appellations, including Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur, Médoc, Saint-Julien, Graves and Pomerol) who are suffering the most, although even some better-known AOCs like, for example, Saint-Emilion, have also found themselves in difficulty.
"The small producers are getting smaller, and the big are getting bigger," said a disillusioned producer from Entre-deux-Mers, who asked not to be named. "Me, I'm not making a centime, and if things carry on like this for much longer I'll just stop. I can't even repay my loans."
Red or dead - facts on the grapevine
·Bordeaux calls itself the world's largest fine wine-making region with some 122,000 hectares of AOC-producing vineyards and more than 9,000 vineyards. Its reputation is based mainly on red wines, notably from the Médoc, Saint-Emilion and Pomerol districts.
· The region's geography and climate is said to be perfect for winegrowing and a wide diversity of microclimates and soil types (clay, gravel, chalk, limestone) favour a range of grape varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.
· The first grapes were grown here by Celts in 100AD. Bordeaux really got into wine in 1152 when Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry Plantagenet; in exchange for food, textiles and metals, we imported claret. Bordeaux wine's reputation was established in the capitals of Europe by the 1700s; by the 1850s its grandeur was assured.
· A newborn 2003 bottle of one of five premiers grands crus classés of Bordeaux (Chateaux Lafite-Rothschild, Latour, Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild and Haut-Brion) costs £150; a 1955 Chateau Haut-Brion sold for £1,760.
· A bottle of generic wine from one of the 57 Bordeaux appellations costs £6-£15 and, if you are not French, will probably taste inferior to something from Australia or Chile at half the price.
· For many, Bordeaux wines are over-rated and over-priced. According to Malcolm Gluck, writer of the Guardian's Super plonk column, Bordeaux is "a fatuous circus, run by spin doctors (aka Chateaux, merchants, negociants and those sycophantic wine writers whose main preoccupation is maintaining the myths)".
I'm in the same boat as you, Cicero. I used to buy a lot of French wines, but haven't bought a drop since the Chirac treachery. Like you, I actually do miss it, but I have no plans of going back, and it has allowed me to try a lot of Chilean, NZ, South African and of course California wines that I had been less familiar with. Plus I feel so good being part of their economic problems.
I like the way the article doesn't dare mention the fact that most Americans are shunning French wines. I used to buy Bordeaux wines, but in the past year or so I've not bought any. I have caught myself picking up a bottle of French wine, only to come to my senses and put it back on the shelf. There are too many good California wines on the market. If I want a red import, I will go with Italian or Australian wines.
Hey I have an idea for the French. They need to think outside the box and try opening up new markets in Islamic countries. A tough slog but it is virgin territory for sure. I suggest they start with their own muslim population and work their way up to say Saudi Arabia. Bon chance!
Australian grapefruit?
My Mom grew up in Ovid, a town in the center of Seneca County. I've played golf at the Willard Mental Institution golf course many a time.
Are you familiar with the area?
I am a former "sommelier" and worked in that capacity for over 20 years. These days (semi-retired consulting status) I label myself a wine steward or cellar master. Gone are the days when being a 'sommelier' meant something.
I'd venture a guess that these French wine boycotts are having a relatively minor effect, but it may be enough to tip the market forces against the frogs. There is too much GREAT product from around the world at great prices to stink up your cellar with Burgundy. Or Bordeaux.
I served Kennedy, Jr. just before his plane crash in a private party Chateaux Margaux '82 in magnums. (Priceless). Great grape juice - I was paid well. But my real thrill in selling wine is/was educating a young couple about a domestic red blend (fractional cost) that brought them back to the restaurant a week later.
Now it's too late.
Nice post but I will walk the plank and declare that in my nearly 30 years of buying wines (red) that the top notch Bordeaux and Burgundies are the best wines in the world historically by far. No question.
Yes they are way overpriced and the French are worthless sans their cute actresses and castles/chateaus and yes, there are decent to very good Reds the world over but none can match the complexity of a stellar Bordeaux...none...not to me. And very good Kali Reds are pretty damned expensive too....
OK....ya'll come and get me...lol
* I think the best red wine values are in Spain.
** I am not familiar with the 2003 vintages other than to know they are not great.
Three years ago, a sommelier in a Las Vegas restaurant encouraged me to explore the fine world of wines via my own home state of Florida. He knows his trade well, and I have discovered a fabulous hobby thanks to him.
Gone are the days when being a 'sommelier' meant something.
I sincerely hope that sommeliers are not a dying breed. I return to the restaurant in Las Vegas to visit the fabulous sommelier at least once per year. He seems genuinely pleased when we share our wine tasting experiences with him. He is marvelous. His wife trains wine distributors throughout the nation. So much to learn, so little time...
You game? My treat. The wine cooler needs pruning...
Sir, no reason to walk a plank. Contrary to many on this board I'm of a free trade mentality. Personal preference of course. Some like blondes. Some like brunettes. I married a redhead, :-)
In the end, it's only grape juice. I give the Frenchies credit for producing humongous amounts of pre-vinegar, but in the end they won't be able to compete in this world market and that is evident. Ironically, IMHO the best wines from France (bang for buck) are top growers in Chablis and scattered (white) producers in Rhone.
You can have the rest, dollar for dollar.
The Wine Institute reports that California wine sales have increased 40% over the last 4 years.
They are. "Sommelier" is a French term and for some of us oldsters in the biz it is the end of an era. I'm embarrassed being associated with a French term these days.
There is only one rule in wine consumption, 'drink what you like.'
and wine drinkers only need to taste an australian or california red to abondon inferior french wine forever. I hope that rabid french anti-americanism has been worth it to them.
Good news all over the place today :-)
What I read is that there was a blind taste-test several years ago. French wines vs California wines. The California wines WON the blind taste test. It sent the wine world into a tizzy. Ever since then, California wines have been enjoying great success. <:)
See post 35. That's the exact one I was referring to.
I still think the designation has status, because sommeliers are so rare. I'm sorry that you feel otherwise.
I'm no fan of California wines... I think they are tremendously overrated. However, Australian wines are some of the best I have found recently. Also wines from Israel and Chile are very good, too.
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