by Hervé Lalau and Joel B. Payne
The board of Viniflhor has adopted the project to establish the geographical indication Vignobles de France. Only Jacques Gravegeal, president of the Vins de Pays d Oc voted against the measure, fearing that it would diminish the hegemony of
his region. In an unusual political alignment within France s internecine quarrels, Bordeaux and the Côtes-du-Rhône joined forces to overrule Languedoc s objection.
Shippers such as Grands Chais de France welcome a measure that they hope will allow them to better compete with the wines of the New World, but it remains unsure that the measure with bear the desired fruit. First, according to the laws of the European Union, no geographical indication is allowed to carry the name of the producing country, a complaint that has already been levied against Viñedos de España. Secondly, the French proposal does not permit the flexibility inherent in the New World. As the wine must be from a single Vins de Pays before it can apply for the new designation, there is no provision that would allow excess stock from an appellation to be declassified in cascades. Further, much of France is not covered by Vins de Pays appellations. Thus, although shippers laud the new proposal, which is certainly a step in the right direction, analysts doubt that the mesure will allow France to compete with the New World and note, in addition, that it does nothing to address the problem of overproduction nor the subsidy dependence of parts of the French wine industy.
