After mediation attempts by the Conseil Interprofessionel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) failed, wine merchant Castel Frères is now taking legal action against the winegrowers' associations that organized a February protest at the company's headquarters. Castel Frères is demanding over €100,000 in damages from the two organizing groups, the union organizations Jeunes Agriculteurs de Gironde (JA), the local branch of the Fédération nationale des syndicats d’exploitants agricoles (FNSEA), as well as from the spokesperson for the association Viti 33, Didier Cousiney.
Castel Frères is requesting the court to recognize the collective responsibility of the demonstrators for "impeding freedom of movement by blocking access to the premises" and "violating the right to protection of residence by blocking the entrance and dumping manure and other waste." In February, during the protest, the entrance to the Blanquefort site, reportedly the largest wine cellar in Europe, was blocked with manure, hay, and vine shoots.
Mediation Attempts
The escalation to the courts was preceded by several rounds of mediation by the CIVB. According to the industry portal Vitisphere, the final proposal included a clause that was unacceptable to the wine merchant. The clause stipulated that public attacks on the trade would be prohibited in the future, as they negatively impact the image of Bordeaux as a whole. The winegrowers, in return, demanded the same right for themselves, which ultimately led Castel Frères to abandon the mediation.
The standoff appears entrenched. Castel, in an open letter, referred to the winegrowers as "disrespectful and violent," while a communiqué from Viti 33 accused Castel of arrogance. Vitisphere quoted a member of the collective saying that while further protests in the near term were not possible due to the heavy workload in the vineyards during the harvest, they did not rule out future demonstrations.
