In France, for wine, being good is no longer enough: first and foremost, there has to be less of it. With the new €130 million plan to finance the permanent grubbing up of up to 35,000 hectares of vineyard, the French government is choosing the path of “planned degrowth” to manage a sector crushed by structural surplus, falling consumption – especially of reds – and increasingly violent climate impacts on harvests. This is not a cosmetic operation: it means redrawing the geography of European wine.
The signal is powerful because it comes from the country that has built part of its national identity on wine. If even France admits that producing less is the only way to save the supply chain, it means that the “more hectares = more value” paradigm has definitively broken down. And this measure is not an isolated one: in Brussels, the “Wine Package” under discussion in recent weeks opens up the possibility of financing grubbing up with OCM funds up to 100%, alongside greater resources for promotion in third countries and for the digitalisation of labelling.
For those who tell the story of wine, this turning point raises an uncomfortable but inevitable question: can we go on narrating only growth, new plantings, new denominations, when Europe is starting to pay to pull vines out of the ground? The crisis is not cyclical, it is a crisis of the model itself: more sober consumers, younger generations asking for lightness, sustainability, different formats, and a supply still calibrated on the idea of abundance.
Italy is watching closely. On the one hand, it defends a market- and promotion-oriented approach; on the other, it has to deal with a lot of problems. The temptation to use at home as well the shortcut of “assisted” grubbing up be will strong, especially in the areas under greatest strain?
The real stake, however, lies elsewhere: who will be able to turn this phase of contraction into a leap in strategic quality. Less acreage does not necessarily mean less value if it is backed by clear choices in terms of positioning, market segmentation, investment in wine tourism and in shorter, more resilient supply chains. The trade press now has the opportunity – and the responsibility – to shift the narrative: from the myth of endless growth to a culture of selection, moderation and coherence between what is produced and what the world is truly willing to drink.
Riccardo Gabriele
