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France’s winegrowers are facing declining sales at home and abroad compounded by falling producer prices, despite achieving an above-average grape harvest last year.<\/p>\n
The situation has been caused by rising inflation and the fact that the French are drinking less wine, the Agriculture Ministry said in its latest market analysis.<\/p>\n
The 2023 grape harvest should actually have given France’s winegrowers reason to celebrate. At 48 million hectolitres, it was 4% higher than the previous year and 8% higher than the average for 2018-2022.<\/p>\n
But between August and December 2023, exports of origin-protected (AOP) wines fell by 7% in volume and 5% in commercial value. Exports of other wines even fell by 16% and 11% respectively. The volume of cognac exported fell by 18% and that of champagne by 17%.<\/p>\n
According to the ministry’s data, the producer prices of France’s winegrowers fell by 13% between August and December 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year and by 9% compared to the previous five years. Only producer prices for champagne increased by 10%.<\/p>\n
Inflation both contributed to the decline in exports and also had a negative impact on domestic wine sales, the ministry said. Retail wine sales in France fell by 4% in 2023 after an equally large decline in 2022. Red wines, with a drop of 9%, were hit harder than white wine which saw a 4% fall and ros\u00e9 which was down 2%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n