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Added on the 07/05/2020 15:00:29 - Copyright : AFP EN
Independent wine-growers from France's Provence region attempt to beat the slump in sales amid the coronavirus crisis by launching 'remote' and 'drive-in' wine-tasting sessions for clients.
Paris is holding its first international wine fair, an event for industry professionals aimed at showcasing French wine producers. Also today, we look at the economic context of that tentative agreement to avoid another US government shutdown.
France is being overshadowed in a field that has always been a source of national pride: the business of wine-tasting. An increasing number of professionals are now being trained at London's Wine and Spirits Education Trust. This school is shaping the palate of future sommeliers, making French experts and wholesalers concerned that France could lose its share of the market.
"The United States is an absolutely strategic market for all the producers of French wine and spirits" explains Raphaël Delpech, the BNIC's general manager. The industry estimates the impact of the new 25% American tax on spirits in France will cost around one billion euros. Among the sectors that have been badly affected: Cognac, which is highly dependent on exports to the United States.
In another blow to French wine producers, the United States has expanded the list of products it's hitting with tariffs to include all French and German wines – except for champagne – as well as cognacs. It's part of a long-running dispute between the European Union and the US over subsidies to planemakers. We speak to French winemaker Bérénice Lurton, the owner of Chateau Climens in the Bordeaux region.
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