At its General Assembly on 12 July 2021, the Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) decided to release the wine reserve from 2020. The decision was preceded by a request of the AOC Bordeaux on 9 July 2021.
According to the French magazine Vitisphere, the reserve amounted to between 45 and 50 hectolitres per hectare from AOC Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur and was decided in July last year because of a wine surplus. This resulted from large harvests and sales difficulties due to the Corona pandemic as well as the slump in wine exports to China and the USA due to political disputes and US punitive tariffs.
While sales at home remain difficult, the revival of export markets had seen demand increase by an average of 40 percent by the end of May this year. According to the data, the suspension of tariffs generated a 75 percent increase in exports to the USA, while growth from China was put at around 90 percent for mainland China and 40 percent for Hong Kong.
Bordeaux sold a total of 3.9 million hectolitres of wine last year. This year, 3.6 million hectolitres were expected, but in view of the positive developments, expectations have now been raised to 4.2 million hectolitres.
Due to the damage caused by the frost at the beginning of April in many wine-growing regions of the Bordelais, it is already considered unlikely that reserves will be built up in the current vintage. itp
