原創 記者 徐菲遠 華夏酒報訂閱號 今天
French winemakers are to turn unsold wine into hand gel and ethanol to make room for this year’s production, the country’s farming agency has said.
The government agency FranceAgriMer said around 3m hectolitres needed distilling as a result of lower sales during the coronavirus crisis.
Winemakers have been hit by the closure of bars and restaurants in France and abroad. Exports to the US, which halved after the Trump administration introduced punitive 25% tariffs last October, fell further after the Covid-19 outbreak.
FranceAgriMer said that from Friday, 33 distilleries had been authorised to collect 2m hectolitres of unsold wine to transform it into ethanol or hydro-alcoholic gel in order to free up room in vintners』 caves for this year’s production.
The exceptional measure has been approved by Brussels, and the EU will finance the distillation, the agency added.
Winemakers have until 19 June to apply for the scheme and state how much wine they wish to transform. They will be paid €78 a hectolitre for appellation wine linked to a specific region and 58 for non-appellation.
The alcohol produced through the distilling process will be used by the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry and for the production of hand sanitising gel.
Didier Josso, the head of FranceAgriMer’s wine branch said: 「The distilled wine will not in any case be used for the production of spirits.」
He added: 「There will probably be a need to stock ethanol as well, but the quantity will be less significant than for wine.」
Around 500 Burgundy winemakers have donated 3,000 bottles, a third of them grands or premiers crus, to be auctioned in support of the region’s hospital staff. The first auction will take place on 13 June, and the grands crus will be auctioned on 22 June.
Burgundy winemakers say they have less stock than their counterparts in Bordeaux, but many have had only one full grape harvest in the last four years. Their vines were damaged by hail in 2016, by frost in 2017 and by frost and drought in 2019.
The Champagne region has been particularly hit by the coronavirus crisis, reporting drops in weekly sales of up to 64% during the lockdown compared with last year.
Italy’s winemakers are also ready to turn their produce into hand gel. In May the farming union Confagricoltura asked the government for authorisation and funding. The association aims to collect between 1.5m and 2m hectolitres of unsold wine and turn it into hand sanitiser.
The procedure requires a ministerial decree, which Confagricoltura hopes will be ready by the end of this month. Unless the wine stocked up in cellars is used, the sector faces the challenge of finding space for wine produced after this autumn’s harvest.
In Spain, the sherry firm González-Byass has been manufacturing 5,000 litres of hand gel for hospitals, care homes and Red Cross centres.
法國將30萬千升葡萄酒製成手消毒液
法國釀酒商將把未售出的葡萄酒製成手消毒液和乙醇，為新年份酒騰出空間。
法國農業部下屬的農作物辦公室FranceAgriMer表示，由於冠狀病毒危機期間銷量下降，大約需要蒸餾30萬千升葡萄酒。
國內外酒吧和餐館的關閉對法國釀酒商造成了沉重打擊。去年10月，川普政府實施25%的懲罰性關稅後，法國葡萄酒對美國的出口減少了一半，疫情的爆發更是雪上加霜。
FranceAgriMer稱，從上周五開始，已經授權33個酒莊收集20萬千升未售出的葡萄酒，將其轉化為手消毒液和乙醇，為即將到來的新年份酒做準備。
該機構補充說，這一特殊措施已獲得歐盟的批准，歐盟將為蒸餾提供資金。
酒莊必須在6月19日之前提交申請計劃，並說明希望轉化多少葡萄酒。法定產區葡萄酒可獲得780歐元/千升的補貼，非法定產區葡萄酒為580歐元/千升。
通過蒸餾製成的酒精將被製藥業和化妝品業用於手消毒液的生產。
FranceAgriMer葡萄酒分部負責人Didier Josso說：「蒸餾的葡萄酒在任何情況下都不會用於生產烈酒。」
他補充說：「可能也需要儲備乙醇，但數量比葡萄酒少得多。」
大約有500家勃艮第酒莊捐贈了3,000瓶葡萄酒，其中1/3為特級園或一級園葡萄酒，用於拍賣以支持該地區的醫院工作人員。首次拍賣將於6月13日舉行，特級園酒將在6月22日拍賣。
勃艮第葡萄酒生產商說，他們的庫存量比波爾多少，在過去的四年中，許多酒莊只有一個完整的葡萄收穫期。他們的葡萄樹在2016年被冰雹破壞，2017年遭遇霜凍，在2019年又經歷了霜凍和乾旱。
香檳地區受到新冠病毒的打擊尤為嚴重，據報導，與去年同期相比，封鎖期間的單周銷量下降了64%。
義大利的釀酒商也正在準備將產品製成手消毒液。5月，義大利農業協會Confagricoltura要求政府授權和資助。該協會的目標是收集15萬-20萬千升未售出的葡萄酒，並將其轉化為手消毒劑。
該程序需要通過農業部出台法令，Confagricoltura希望該法令能在本月底準備就緒。如果不將儲存在酒窖中的葡萄酒處理掉，葡萄酒業將面臨為今年秋季收穫後的葡萄酒尋找生產空間的挑戰。
在西班牙，雪利酒生產商González-Byass已為醫院、療養院和紅十字會中心生產了5000升手消毒液。
本報記者 徐菲遠 譯自英國《衛報》