Having an extra billion bottles of wines lying around might sound great—until you actually think about the repercussions.
According to the European wine trade group Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins , the crisis has included a 30 percent drop in volume and 50 percent drop in value of the EU wine market due to the COVID-19-related. The group says 100 percent of its members report exports are down since the outbreak began in January. Obviously, tourism is practically non-existent. And even other retail outlets are struggling.
As a result, Eric Andrieu—a French Member of the European Parliament—has said that Europe as a whole may have about one billion liters of wine that won’t be able to be sold,. And making matters worse, another harvest is coming up relatively quickly, meaning tanks and storage space need to be emptied to make room before the new grapes are picked.
To deal with the situation, the CEEV is asking the EU for a “COVID-19 Wine Package” on Friday, requesting assistance and regulatory changes from the EU government—with both short and long term recovery measures in mind: things like freezing economic resources, further flexibility with promotional programs, lower taxes, updated legal frameworks, and even helping U.S. exports by playing ball with President Trump.
However, if all else fails, wineries will be forced to result to “crisis distillation”—a decision that actually needs EU government approval to move forward. To be fair, as horrible as it sounds, at least it provides something to winemakers. “Distillation is an alternative, certainly less remunerative than the sale of wine, but one which will allow wine growers to get by and to be able to also harvest in 2020,” Andrieu was quoted as saying by The Drinks Business.
If it comes to distilling, Andrieu reportedly proposed French winemakers should be paid 80 cents per liter for their excess wine. Sadly, those prices won’t be offered to the public first.
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