French put a cork in wine tax plan

The French government has abandoned an idea of increasing wine tax to help fill its coffers.

“I confirm that there will be no tax increase on wine,” government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope announced today after a Cabinet meeting.

The short-lived plan, floated just days ago, had vintners and drinkers seeing red (white and rose).

Wine exports have fallen and sales in France have been slow.

The idea was to add a modest tax hike per bottle to help plug a social security deficit expected.

Vintners protested, along with the mayor of Bordeaux, Alain Juppe, a former prime minister and leading heavyweight in the governing party, the Union for a Popular Majority.

“It’s a bad idea,” Juppe said after a weekend meeting with centre-right Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.