purchasing power, taxation, foreign labor… In the Médoc, winegrowers faced with difficulties and fear of the future

A few days before the legislative elections, what is the state of mind of the French? To find out, franceinfo is going to meet voters, before the vote on June 30 and July 7. First stop in Gironde.

An hour and a half north of Bordeaux, Guillaume Poitevin has been a winegrower for three generations in the small town of Jau-Dignac-et-Loirac. “It’s a job that many people dream of. But today it no longer makes us dream.”, he said. Rather than dreams, Guillaume Poitevin evokes sleepless nights, to wonder “what we could do with our vines. This is the reflection of every winegrower’s night. I think that today, winegrowers don’t sleep well.”

Because in the Médoc as elsewhere in Bordeaux, sales have collapsed for five years due to an accumulation of bad news: Brexit, American taxes on wine imports, Covid, the Chinese market at half mast… And even in France, wine consumption is falling from year to year. Result: today, Guillaume Poitevin no longer knows what to do with his wine. And like his colleagues, he is faced with a problem of overproduction: the bottles are piling up, as are the debts. “The cellars are saturated, and we are in debt. We are now financing crops that are not sold. And we are losing hope a little every day, due to lack of visibility. Look at what is happening in the government : taxation changes every four mornings… We live day by day.”

The change of government, after the legislative elections, adds a little more instability to the wine sector. For example, new aid for wine growers, such as subsidies for uprooting vines, was to be announced at the start of the school year. “We are afraid that this change of government will postpone these decisions”says Guillaume Poitevin.

“Regardless of the color of the Assembly, we need help and concrete answers.”

Guillaume Poitevin, winegrower

at franceinfo

In the Médoc, the National Rally came well ahead in the European elections. The winegrower understands this vote, which according to him reflects a fed-up and a fear of the future that the winegrower perceives in his employees: “Their worry is, ‘Is he going to keep us ? Are we going to be fired? ?’ They have this problem of inflation, of purchasing power. When they ask me ‘It will get better when ?’, I have no answer for them.”

Will a candidate be able to provide answers to Guillaume Poitevin? Difficult to say at the moment, the campaign is only just beginning. On the other hand, one thing is certain for him: restrictive immigration measures would be a disaster for his profession. “In the Médoc, all the wine companies employ workers who arrive from Romania, Morocco… It’s not possible to do without them.” He tried to recruit locally, but he was unsuccessful. No one comes knocking on our door, he said.

Damien Pagès, also a winegrower in Jau-Dignac-et-Loirac, confirms that it is difficult to hire local seasonal workers, and also difficult to motivate his nine full-time employees. He therefore asks candidates in the next election to seriously consider the issue of labor costs. “An employee needs to be motivated. To do this, we must be able to support them economically. Between the gross salary that we pay and the net salary that goes into their pocket, there is an inequality, he believes. It costs the company too much, and the employee does not have enough purchasing power compared to someone who stays at home.”

“When we have put everything back in order, and it may not be the day before tomorrow, we will be able to put the train back on the rails. We must not delay.”

Damien Pagès, winegrower

at franceinfo

Damien Pagès cites other measures, which he considers urgent: putting an end to administrative burdens, relaxing environmental standards, making French wine competitive again… And above all, giving hope to small business owners like him: “If tomorrow my business were to stop, I would cease to be a business manager. We have been put off by entrepreneurship, even though it is what drives us.”
For several months, Damien Pagès has not paid himself a salary. He who nevertheless works ten hours a day, six days a week.