France Boosts Financial Assistance to Wine Industry

The French government will provide an additional $34 million aid for the wine industry on top of the $158 million promised on May 11 for crisis distillation and exemption from social security contributions.

The $34 million aid includes $17 million for a private storage aid scheme for 2mhl of surplus wine, an alternative to distilling.

French wine producers, particularly in Champagne and the Loire, have been demanding an alternative to distillation.

Jean-Martin Dutour, president of Interloire and Chinon's Baudry-Dutour, emphasized that crisis distillation could not solve "the structural problem."

However, it may be used to dispose of unsold wine, which is not for aging.

The government aid also includes around $5.7 million for a crisis distillation program and an $11.4 million package for distilleries that will pay up to $45 per hectoliter of pure alcohol.

Other financial support already provided for the industry includes solidarity fund, a state-guaranteed loan, tax, and social payment deferrals that wine businesses may avail.

There is also the so-called and activité partielle, France's version of the Job Retention Scheme.

The government also made all wine companies affected by the health crisis eligible for exemption from social security contributions. Previously it was only smaller businesses.

Over 85,000 businesses, including vineyards, wineries, cooperatives, and merchants, were affected by France's pandemic.