60 growers file for bankruptcy amid Muscadet 'meltdown'

Up to one-third of Muscadet's wine growers are facing financial ruin thanks to a 'meltdown' in export markets amid unsustainable pricing levels.

According to Loire Valley wine broker Charles Sydney, around 60 Muscadet vignerons have filed for bankruptcy since this year’s harvest.

Growers have been hit by a number of factors, including the after-effects of 2008’s devastating spring frost, which destroyed up to two-thirds of the crop – and now vineyards are being abandoned or neglected.

‘It is also the warning of the coming meltdown of the market,’ said Sydney.

‘In just five years [in the UK], the effect of duty increases, VAT rates and the pound’s devaluation means that a £5.99 bottle will have gone from having €2.60 of wine in 2006 to a risible €1.38 in 2011.’

He said producers had held their prices and cut their costs, but added: ‘Things are now critical and we are facing a situation where there are no obvious savings to be made.’

Written by Richard Woodard

Richard Woodard is a freelance wine and spirits writer based in the UK. Aside from Decanter, he writes for several wine trade and media outlets including Imbibe, The Drinks Business, Harpers and Drinks International.

Since 2015 he has been the magazine editor of Scotchwhisky.com. He has formerly worked as a wine news reporter at Imbibe and a feature writer for Halycon Magazine.