Champagne makers in France agree on grape harvest cut in bid to recover from coronavirus crisis

The French press have labelled the showdown between the vineyards and houses the "champagne wars"

France’s champagne makers today reached a last-minute agreement

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18 August 2020

France’s champagne makers today reached a last-minute agreement to reduce the amount of grapes they will harvest this year, as they try to recover from a collapse in sales caused by the coronavirus crisis.

Vineyards have struck a deal to cut the volume of grapes to be gathered to 8,000 kg per hectare, down nearly 22% from 10,200 kg in 2019, a spokesman for industry body CIVC said.

Producers and champagne mansions have been locked in discussions for weeks over how much to cut harvest output.

Leading champagne houses want the vineyards to harvest fewer grapes to avoid saturating the market and causing the price of champagne to plummet.

Last year, just under 300 million bottles of French champagne were sold worldwide, half of them exported to the US, the UK and Japan.

This year, French producers expect to sell 100 million fewer bottles, amounting to a €1.7 billion loss.

The sales slump has led to a bitter dispute between the vineyard owners and the champagne houses, including famous names like Bollinger, Moët & Chandon and Piper-Heidsieck, which buy grapes and turn them into bubbly.

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