|
|
|
Back to Home 
Advertise
Subscribe  Email this Article
ARCHIVES
Back to newsletter
|
| |||||||
|
Next year, the world market will see a 35 percent cut in generic Bordeaux exports. The largest of France's wine regions is in crisis. But not to worry, the premier crus are still coming in, if you can afford them. By Jonathan Platt "In what was once the uncontested Mecca of wine, the 2003 vintages are quietly fermenting in the caves of prestigious châteaux in Bordeaux. Nonetheless, even though they have already been sold as futures at double the 2002 prices, winemakers are having a hard time handling the new reality. It mattered little that even the famous classified growths came out with second and third labels, sometime even fourth labels, thus using the name while trying to move more generic products at lower prices. Because of the competition arising from newer wine producing areas such as California, Australia, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa, who have improved their vinification process by hiring French and Italian consultants, consumers started preferring the richer, cheaper wines on the market, and the interest for generic French wines has declined. "Domestic consumption is down, foreign competition and the weak dollar have battered exports, overproduction is rampant and needed changes are thwarted by obsolete rules. Bordeaux has been hit particularly hard because it is the largest of the country's wine regions and wine is central to its economy. The Bordeaux appellation comprises well over 10,000 wine properties, most of them small - 20 acres or less - and many of them are in trouble," according to Frank Prial of the New York Times. Crisis in Bordeaux Because a classified growth Premier Cru bottle of wine can sell up to 100 times more than a generic wine, smaller landholders and producers have been overproducing to pay their bills. Many, who had heavily borrowed from banks to purchase their land at peak prices in the hope of producing wines that would be sold internationally, and who depend on their wine for their living, may be forced to close over the next few years. Their demand from the Bordeaux Wine Council: to regulate prices, to permit them to blend wines from other regions with their own, and to name their wines by the grape name, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Chardonnay, as is now becoming a standard appellation in the rest of the world, instead of labeling their wines geographically with the name of the village where they grow (for instance: there are 151 châteaux with Figeac in their name), were only met partially. All of the above could only be applied to the cheapest country wines, decreed the Wine Council. Which, of course, was rejected by the winemakers who feel pride in the Bordeaux appellation. As a result, the strategy adopted by the Bordeaux Wine Council, which includes both the world-famous châteaux and the independent producers, is to concentrate on marketing better quality wines and to hold less expensive wines off the market in 2004.
| ||||||
Home
Advertise
Subscribe
Privacy Policy
About Us
Contact Us
Copyrights