Modern wine-farming isn’t all romantic traditions either though. It has been mechanized and intensified over the last few decades as well, with some notable disadvantages to the landscapes that have been formed by vineyards over centuries.
I understand the existential threat, that a shrinking market poses to some wine-farmers. But I don’t think wine is going to disappear completely. And maybe there’s also a chance for a healthy transformation.
The problem is, that we’re gonna let merciless market dynamics decide, who can stay and who cannot, and usually that doesn’t go in favour of the small players.
Yes the ones that stand a chance are higher segment, turn to biological wine only and to “luxury experience at our vineyard”. But no way French, Italian, Spanish or German wine can continue to compete in lower segments on world market flooded by cheap mass produced wine from South America, South Africa etc while demand declines. Of course it will not disappear completely from Europe, but the risk for certain villages and regions is very real because wine from other continents is silly cheap. If you do drink wine once in a while: buy regional if possible! (That goes for all agricultural products that are available from your own region)
Modern wine-farming isn’t all romantic traditions either though. It has been mechanized and intensified over the last few decades as well, with some notable disadvantages to the landscapes that have been formed by vineyards over centuries.
I understand the existential threat, that a shrinking market poses to some wine-farmers. But I don’t think wine is going to disappear completely. And maybe there’s also a chance for a healthy transformation.
The problem is, that we’re gonna let merciless market dynamics decide, who can stay and who cannot, and usually that doesn’t go in favour of the small players.
Yes the ones that stand a chance are higher segment, turn to biological wine only and to “luxury experience at our vineyard”. But no way French, Italian, Spanish or German wine can continue to compete in lower segments on world market flooded by cheap mass produced wine from South America, South Africa etc while demand declines. Of course it will not disappear completely from Europe, but the risk for certain villages and regions is very real because wine from other continents is silly cheap. If you do drink wine once in a while: buy regional if possible! (That goes for all agricultural products that are available from your own region)