France (and some other major European wine countries) is fighting tooth and nail to maintain planting rights in Europe. And even though they have managed to obtain an extension they are far from satisfied.
The new system of controlled growth (which is not so different from the system that has been in force since the 1970s), should, according to the EU Commission, be applicable from January 2016 until the end of the 2021. And after that the planting of new vineyards will be completely free.
Various French associations, like Cnaoc (Confédération des syndicats de vins AOC) and EFOW (Fédération Européenne des vins d’origine), are of a completely different opinion. Above all, they think that it is too early to abolish planting rights already in 2021.
According to the EU Commission the controlled growth between 2016 and 2021 should allow the European vineyard to grow by 2% at the most. For France, 2 % would mean 16 000 hectares per year. Too much, says the above associations, 1 % is enough.
Maybe they should look a little bit beyond their own borders and the borders of Europe. The vineyards are actually growing outside of Europe. In countries like China and the rest of Asia, South America, United States … While producers in France (Europe) obviously are happy with what they have.
Read more here www.vitisphere.com
And here’s why planting rights is a bad idea both for wine consumers and wine producers.
