The French wine industry presents the main points of its recovery plan

The French wine industry, in crisis, presented on Monday during the Paris Agricultural Show the broad outlines of a recovery plan which notably involves a modernization of the image of wine, more innovation and an offer more adapted to demand.

The professional organisations began 18 months ago by establishing a diagnosis of the sector, which is faced with a fall in wine consumption in France (-70% since the 1960s), a decline in exports and climatic hazards.

"Big clouds are gathering over the entire sector," sums up Bernard Farges, president of the National Committee of Wine Interprofessions (CNIV).

Faced with this observation, shared by the various stakeholders despite the diversity of situations - red wine, for example, is more affected than champagne - a collective roadmap has been drawn up.

Its ambition is in particular to "enhance and modernise the image of wine" in order to attract new generations, who have gradually moved away from it.

"The objective (...) is to bring young people closer to wines by demystifying the product and encouraging its consumption in moments of conviviality and pleasure," details the recovery plan, entitled "Cap Vins".

Other areas identified include innovation (packaging, alcohol-free wines, etc.), highlighting the environmental efforts of winegrowers, more ambitious export strategies or adapting supply to demand.

In response to the crisis, a system of support for uprooting was set up in mid-October by the Ministry of Agriculture to reduce overproduction.

Despite the apparent urgency, the sector has not set a precise timetable.

"Our mission is to chart a course," explains Bernard Farges of the CNIV. "18 months ago, we would have been incapable of coming before you (the media) to say that the wine industry had to reduce its sails, that it had to innovate... The word recovery was not yet in our vocabulary."

"We had to share a vision, which was not necessarily easy. It required a lot of discussion and consensus," says Jérôme Bauer, president of the National Confederation of Controlled Designations of Origin (CNAOC).

"We have reached a point of maturity where we are all aligned," he emphasizes, defending the plan presented despite the lack of concrete measures for the moment. "This is not an empty document. It is a stated and shared ambition."