Wine war in Sancerre : 5’600 vines uprooted

The wine war is declared in Sancerre ! This is unheard of in the Sancerrois : a winegrower lodged a complaint this weekend against the wild uprooting of 5,600 vines of the Sauvignon grape variety.

A vine planted in spring

The Sancerrois winegrower lodged a complaint this weekend against the savage uprooting of his 5,600 Sauvignon vines on a plot in Saint-Satur in the Cher. He estimates that this action causes him harm of at least 12’000 euros. These destroyed vines were intended for the production of wine under IGP - Protected Geographical Indication —. A mischief attributed in the wine industry to opponents of the IGP label, source for some of confusion and fraud.

This IGP is very frowned upon by AOC winegrowers - Designation of Controlled Origin —, who fear unfair competition and consequently a devaluation of their AOC. Last february, a demonstration in front of the prefecture of Bourges against this regulation of IGP had brought together 300 winegrowers.

IGP vs AOC

L’IGP, unlike AOC and AOP, designates products for which at least one of the stages has taken place in a specific geographical area. For these two other appellations, the making, production and processing are carried out in the same geographical area. This new IGP label developed by the European Union aims to replace the old name of "vin de pays".

That was to be expected

"What had to happen has happened". "We strongly condemn such acts… But it has been two and a half years since we sounded the alarm bells asking that the administration take restrictive measures to prevent the plantation in the Sancerrois in IGP of sauvignon and pinot noir ", the two AOC Sancerre grape varieties, said Gilles Guillerault, President of the Union viticole sancerroise, which defends the interests of wine growers in AOC. "The administration did not take its responsibilities and take the appropriate measures… What had to happen unfortunately happened ”, added Gilles Guillerault.

According to the winegrowers under the controlled designation of origin (AOC), the planting of the two emblematic grape varieties of Sancerre should quite simply be prohibited for wines under the IGP label, instituted by the European Union and which covers the old notion of vin de pays. "It smells like sancerre, it has the color, but it's not. Classification becomes fuzzy for the consumer. This is a medium-term damage ", had declared last October Nathalie Prieur, Director of the Union viticole sancerroise.

"It is too easy to put a local wine and an AOC wine in the same cellar", also denounced a winegrower, leaving a suspicion of fraud over the producers of Sauvignon and Pinot Noir in IGP.