Box Wines
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European wine markets are being roiled by an odd combination of high prices and too much production. According to European winemakers forced to shake it up,

Traditional European winemakers are in a rut, facing overcapacity, tough markets and drinkers with taste buds tickled by new horizons.

On Wednesday, the European Union executive office proposed a total overhaul of the bloated sector, which now spends more than $700 million a year just turning unsalable wine into industrial alcohol. Excessive subsidies have been blamed for overproduction and a decline in quality of non-premium wines, which still fetch a high price…

Colruyt wine purchaser Freddy Steens has seen the New World wines take over the under-5 euro ($7) bracket in the past dozen years to account for 90% of volume now.

“People, especially the young, were looking for something different,” he said. “And we also saw that (New World producers) could put wines on the market at less than 5 euros that, when it comes to price-quality, were great.”

Europeans at first were complacent. “They … thought they were untouchable, that their quality was what it should be,” Steens said.

Even at Goorden Wine, French wine now is only two-thirds of sales. “They didn’t take care of consumers. The French attitude was: Why would I go out into the world when the whole world can come to me? Now they pay for this.” French exports slumped from about 380 million gallons in 1999, to 340 million gallons in 2004, while exports from Italy, another tradition-bound producer, slumped from about 460 million gallons to fewer than 320 million gallons.

Various solutions are being offered, including the heretical thought of actually digging up vines to reduce the size of the crop. At least a few European producers are taking steps to become more competitive and to produce wines to compete with New World wines.

Another factor in the increased share for New World wines is that they are usually sold as a single varietal, like Syrah, Merlot, or Chardonnay. European wines are often blends of as many as six grapes, which can be more confusing for consumers unsure of what to expect.

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