France To Pay €120 Million To Uproot 30,000 Hectares Of Vineyards

France plans to uproot 30,000 hectares of grapevines as wine consumption continues to drop, submitting a €120-million proposal to address the shrinking wine sector, Jonny Walfisz reported for Euronews.

Wine consumption in France has been in freefall for multiple decades, dropping by 70% in the last 60 years.

The plan, created by the state, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, and the Bordeaux Wine Interprofessional Council, will remove 30,000 of the nation’s 800,000 hectares of vineyards.

The Ministry of Agriculture is also considering destroying grapevines in 100,000 hectares of vineyards.

The Gironde department has already begun to reduce its vineyards by 8,000 hectares.

Vineyard owners have been offered as much as €4,000 per hectare if they allow the government to uproot their vines. Those who accept the offers are not allowed to replant vines on the same land until at least 2029.

Wine consumption in France has been in freefall for multiple decades, dropping by 70% in the last 60 years. The average French citizen drank 120 liters of wine a year in the 1960s. It’s now just 40 liters, according to the French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT).