France’s President Macron recommends “moderation rather than eradication” for wine

rench President Emmanuel Macron stopped by the French wine pavilion on February 25 during the country’s international agricultural show at the Porte de Versailles exhibition ground in Paris. He certainly didn’t shy away from drinking to the good health of the wine industry: “The glasses clinked to the sound of Cheers! with the two wines we tasted. We all made sure we did it properly!” pointed out Bernard Farges, the chairman of the national committee for wine appellation and geographical indication marketing boards (CNIV). The aim was to respond to the campaign, “Good health has nothing to do with alcohol”, rolled out by the French health authorities, in conjunction with the Health Department in January this year. The campaign coincided with Dry January and was designed to “show that alcohol consumption is not the norm by stressing the absurdity of wishing someone’s ‘good health’ by toasting with glasses of alcohol”.

The campaign follows a pattern of stigmatisation of alcoholic drinks in general, and wine in particular, across France. The campaign did not go unnoticed by the French President. “Evidently, he was not consulted and did not approve”, stated Jérôme Despey, chairman of the wine committee at intervention agency FranceAgriMer, adding that the head of State was very clear about the fact that he would continue to defend wine as he has done in the past.

 According to those present, Emmanuel Macron said he recommended “moderation rather than eradication” of wine consumption. “That suits us just fine!” concurred Samuel Montgermont, chairman of Vin & Société, who stressed the clear support for moderate drinking long promoted by members of the wine industry. Their approach was applauded by Emmanuel Macron who claimed that the wine industry should be actively involved in establishing health plans focused on alcohol.