Red, Red Whine

Rachel Cooke has drawn attention to a 32% decline in France's consumption of red wine over the last 10 years. This fall has been linked, by some folk, to a marked reduction in the eating of red meats (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/19/red-wine-on-the-brink-not-if-i-have-anything-to-do-with-it). The Covid19 pandemic might also have changed French eating behaviour in the last decade. Eating less red meat (especially if smoked) and drinking less red wine will, however, have clear health benefits for both the population and the planet. The collapsing market for red wine has caused some Bordeaux producers to demand government subsidies to destroy vines and to convert unsold wine into industrial alcohol. Wine production, for all its mystique, is essentially a form of farming. Like any other crop production it is influenced by changes in consumer behaviour and climate. Bordeaux's Premiere Cru wines are unlikely to be touched by collapse of cheaper red wine sales.