Vintners say ‘oui’ to woodchips

WINE flavoured with wood chips was, until recently, just the kind of thing France’s vintners were proud to have nothing to do with.

But in a sharp break with tradition, the government agreed to allow this and other moneysaving shortcuts to help French vineyard owners revive their flagging fortunes.

The plans, drawn up by the winemakers themselves, were endorsed by French Agriculture Minister Herve Gaymard ahead of a meeting this week with a group of lawmakers pressing for government action to stem the decline. The new measures would not change the stringent rules governing top quality wines sold under prestigious “appellation d’origine controlee” or AOC labels. But production requirements would be relaxed for mid-market “Vins de Pays” - or country wines - in a move designed to make it easier and cheaper to produce mass-market French wines in high volumes.

One of the new measures would allow wood chips to be added to the maturing Vin de Pays to give it an oak flavour without using expensive wooden barrels. Such cost-cutting tactics are already common across the rest of the winemaking world but were viewed by most French winemakers as too unorthodox to contemplate - until now. The collective change of heart is a sign of how tough times have become for winemakers as they face a slump in sales at home and abroad.