On the list of the world’s largest producers of wine, France ranks number two on the list behind Italy, but on the list of the world’s biggest wine destroyers, France holds the number one title proudly.
In one of the oddest stories you’ll ever see, the French government has squeezed out a deal with the country’s wine producers to pay them $216 million dollars so that they can destroy over 80 million gallons of wine that is sitting in surplus and has gone unsold.
Producers of wine in France are being somewhat bailed out due to a number of issues, including inflation, overproduction, increased cost of production, and a sudden shift in French citizen’s consumption habits. It is also believed that the current state of the war in Ukraine has had adverse affects.
The French government is actually paying wine makers to destroy their stored wine so that winemakers can once again find sources of revenue (lose money to make money). They are also offering winegrowers funding if they rip up their rows of vines and repurpose the land.
Money that is going to the winegrowers should also allow for a repurposing of the alcohol itself. If farmers distill the surplus wine, they can turn it into pure alcohol and sell it (at a loss) to companies that make cleaning supplies, cosmetics, and other products.
Seems like things are getting really dire over across the pond, and destroying the wine can’t be the best idea, right? Heck, I just brainstormed on some potential ideas for a few minutes and came up with seemingly better solutions for the surplus of wine:
-Have a country-wide wine drinking contest that rivals the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest, and give away $1 million (saving $215 million)
-Save it for when they need to remake The Shining and need to re-do the iconic elevator scene
-Hand it out for free to teachers, because God knows that they need it, and they deserve it
-Create the world’s first “Wine Waterpark” that would make dreams come true and health inspectors clutch their pearls all at the same time
-Send the surplus of wine over to America, and I promise you, we’ll handle it
I’m also confused as to why they don’t just save it all? Wine gets better with age right? And the more the wine is aged, the more you can sell it for? Billionaires have to spend their money on something…
Take a look at the video below to get some more details on the absurd story that is causing France to bail on their wine supply:
