They are winegrowers from father to daughter. Jean-Paul and Emmanuelle Paquet, accompanied by their technician Gilles Didon, are at the head of the Mur du Cloître wine estate in Haute-Kontz.
Here, we produce Moselle AOC wines (controlled designation of origin) and projects, before the confinement, there were plenty of drawers. “Our new cellar construction, open to the public, will be delayed until 2022 … One day, it will be too late,” sighs Jean-Paul Paquet.
This setback is not without consequences for the very tight company in its current premises. “Our structure has become too small. It is all the more so because with containment, the storage volume is not released. ” Since mid-March, the wine estate has been stopped. No more bottles are sold to restaurateurs and wine merchants, its main customers, which represents 90% loss of turnover. “We have to bear the storage costs. We live on our reserves. How long will we last? “Continues the worried winemaker.
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Inventory overflows
Meanwhile, the question of bottling the last vintage scheduled for July arises and poses a problem. “We will have to buy new lockers to have the necessary storage, which will further reduce the space of our already too small cellar.”
What about the harvest in September? Again, a multitude of questions and no answers. “Are we going to be able to recruit staff? How are we going to respect the safety distances and avoid contact? Not to mention this production which will further engulf the stock… ”
Jean-Paul Paquet is also worried about the future. “The stocks of all the winegrowers are overflowing. The prices will be broken and, at the end, we will have nothing left. Just enough to pay the charges… ”
Positive. The Haute-Kontz winemaker “tries” to remain positive. “We tell ourselves that this crisis may bring about a change in behavior. That people will get closer to local producers they trust and consume local. “
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