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RHONE VALLEY
– REGION –
Wine grower and negociant Michel Chapoutier who leads the way for organic winegrowing
and has pioneered biodynamics in the northern Rhone Valley
From Hermitage hill, where Michel Chapoutier has one
of the most scenic viewpoints in the northern Rhone
valley, the region’s undisputed leader of organic and
biodynamic winegrowing is furious. He knows only too
well how serious the consequences of the Airbus-Boeing
dispute and consequential Trump taxes are for the entire
French wine and spirits industry. 2020 was not just the year of the
pandemic, it also revealed the impact of the 25% additional duties
slapped on French wines under 14% ABV in containers under
2 litres in October 2019. Since 12 January 2021, the taxes have
been extended to include all still wines and wine-based spirits,
which will make an even bigger dent in sales for 2021.
FROM TRUMP TAXES TO BREXIT
“The decision by the US administration to apply punitive tariffs in
retaliation for subsidies improperly paid to Airbus is both unfair
and unacceptable to the wine industry*. Our strategy involved
both anticipation and staying in the public eye. We exported wines
before the tax was made official, and maintained our links with the
United States. But the Americans don’t like to pay taxes, and we felt
that customers were avoiding French wines in the US. So we had
to slash our margins by 8 to 12%”, claims Chapoutier. Winemaker
Simon Gauthier at Domaine de la Présidente in Vaucluse realised
that the drop in prices put his estate in direct competition with the
likes of Guigal and Chapoutier.
* The Biden administration recently suspended the tariffs for a four-month period
SPRING 2021 GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE 25