EU pays for French winemakers to turn unsold stock into ethanol
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Global wine consumption is dwindling amid changing drinking patterns, lacklustre economic conditions and trade tariffs.
PHOTO: AFP
Published Apr 01, 2026, 09:38 PM
Updated Apr 01, 2026, 09:40 PM
BRUSSELS - The European Union disbursed €40 million (S$59.5 million) to finance the distillation of unsold French wine stocks to stabilise prices amid dwindling global demand.
The emergency measure will offer €33 per hectolitre to winemakers and cooperatives to distill about 1.2 million hectolitres of surplus red and rose wines which have witnessed a drop in prices, according to an EU regulation dated March 31. The distilled products will be used exclusively for “industrial purposes, including disinfection and pharmaceutical, and energy purposes”.
Global wine consumption is dwindling amid changing drinking patterns, lackluster economic conditions and trade tariffs. Consumption of French wine, in particular, has suffered as geopolitical tensions curbed exports to its biggest markets in the US and China.
Shipments of French wine and spirits fell to their lowest volume in at least 20 years, contributing to a collapse in the food trade balance of the EU’s biggest agricultural producer. France has also disbursed funds to help farmers uproot vines permanently across the country, which has about 11 per cent of the world’s vineyards.
Even though distillation measures were already implemented in 2023 and 2024 and 35,000ha of vineyards have been uprooted during that period, the average price for bulk transactions of French red and rose wines was 19.6 per cent below the average of the five previous years, the EU regulation said. BLOOMBERG