"We are experiencing a crisis that we evaluate to be even worse than the Great Depression" of 1929, Thibaut Le Mailloux of the Champagne Committee, told AP. French wine producers in the Champagne region estimate they've lost $2 billion in reduced sales so far this year. To manage the loss the Champagne Committee plants to destroy "record quantities " grapes or sell them to distillers who will use them to make hand sanitizer.
From AP:
Anselme Selosse, of Jacques Selosse Champagnes, called it "an insult to nature" that champagne's famous grapes might even be destined to produce alcohol for hand sanitizer, as is happening in other wine-producing regions such as Alsace after demand spiked during the pandemic.
"We are to destroy (the grapes) and we pay for them to be destroyed," Selosse said, referring to the industry as a whole. "It's nothing but a catastrophe."
