Jacques Gravegeal: “The Pays d’Oc market is totally in balance”

Why has Pays d’Oc made it mandatory for wines to have a sales contract before being approved for the 2020-2021 marketing season?

Stricter lockdown measures are still on the cards. The issue is about prioritising the marketplace, allowing wines that have buyers to be tasted and endorsed and not get blocked if the situation gets tougher. We are organising a waiting list for wines that do not have a buyer's reservation contract.

Aren’t you concerned that this wait-and-see policy at the start of the season may cause an imbalance between supply and demand?

Over the previous season, we posted increases in volumes released from wineries and prices [Ed: +4% overall by volume to 5.4 million hl, with stable prices for red wines and rising prices for whites and rosés]. This is due to super/hypermarkets and was consolidated through distillation – yes, distillation – which reaped positive results. We are in a situation where the Pays d'Oc market is totally balanced.

There is a wait-and-see attitude among operators - the 2020 harvest is totally out of the ordinary and disparate. Some producers suffered the effects of adverse weather (frost, drought...), whilst others filled their tanks with the harvest of the century. Everything will be sold, we are substantially in balance.