Decent wine prices that allow winegrowers to make a living, rebuild cash reserves, and plan for

Tractors Block Béziers Exhibition Center as Winegrowers Demand Decent Prices

Decent wine prices that allow winegrowers to make a living, rebuild cash reserves, and plan for generational succession are the core demand of a protest staged by La Coordination Rurale de l’Hérault at the Dionysud trade show on November 3, vitisphere.com reported. A fleet of tractors and utility vehicles deployed by the CR34 union at the Béziers exhibition center to filter access to the professional event, which brings together 149 exhibitors under the organization of the Nouvelle Génération de Presse Agricole group and its subsidiary Vitisphere.

The morning began with a slow-roll protest starting from the prison roundabout and heading to the exhibition center. A contingent of roughly twenty “yellow bonnets” drew a significant police presence, with law enforcement monitoring the mobilization closely. While the demonstration remained peaceful, participants delivered a collective SOS regarding the ongoing wine crisis.

Benjamin Bajada, CR34 co-president and a cereal grower from Montpeyroux, warned that the disappearance of winegrowers cascades through the entire regional economy, affecting cooperatives, supply vendors, and local commerce. He criticized government announcements as an ineffective bluff, pointing out that accessing 15 cents per liter in GNR aid requires using complicated platforms via Chorus while payments stalled months ago.

The union demands a blank year for Non-Building Land Property Tax, the suspension of bank loan repayments, and administrative simplification. Laurent Crouzet, the other CR34 co-president and a viticulturist from Puisserguier, added that the state financial efforts amount to mere sprinkling rather than structural aid, calling instead for a reform of water laws, the abolition of the Évin law, and the reauthorization of prohibited phytosanitary products.

Interpellation of Agricultural Leaders at Dionysud

During the inaugural walk led by Béziers Mayor Robert Ménard, the protesters confronted Jérôme Despey, president of the Hérault Chamber of Agriculture and first vice-president of the Fédération Nationale des Syndicats d’Exploitants Agricoles. Laurent Crouzet highlighted the deep anxiety surrounding the survival of wine estates, noting that current price indicators like the sustainability agreements of the Pays d’Oc IGP under European article 210 bis fail to act as actual floors and are frequently ignored by buyers.

Jérôme Despey acknowledged the distress and difficulties faced by the sector, affirming that defending the profession through fair pricing remains the central issue. He defended the implementation of a price tunnel voted on by parliamentarians in the summer agricultural emergency law, which establishes that interprofessions can set a baseline preventing the sale of wine below production costs including inputs, charges, and wages.

Despey noted that he pushed for this mechanism during a heated special wine council meeting at FranceAgriMer against opposition from the trade sector. Addressing demands for concrete local action, he emphasized that he is not a government minister, though he supports demands for a blank banking year with deferred loan payments and state-covered intermediate interests, given that the viticultural indebtedness rate of 80 percent prevents adding new debt.

Push for Export Conquest and Generational Renewal

While acknowledging the ongoing struggle between upstream and downstream wine sectors, Jérôme Despey argued that the French vineyard must move past reduction of overproduction and shift toward export conquest through segmentation, dealcoholization, and resistant grape varieties to secure market share. He stressed the importance of unity among agricultural syndicates around the principle of fair remuneration to ensure generational renewal, noting that 75 percent of exploitants over age 55 currently lack successors.

Following the twenty-minute exchange, the inauguration resumed with speeches emphasizing unity within the wine community. Gérard Julien, president of Nouvelle Génération de Presse Agricole, underscored the importance of maintaining the exhibition as a beacon of hope and a platform for all union messages. Regional councilor Myriam Gairaud and local viticulturists echoed the sentiment that despite current hardships, the profession retains a unique quality of life worth preserving together.