Wine Lake
Definition - What does Wine Lake mean?
Wine lake is a term used to describe the European Union’s surplus supply of wine. Wine is over produced in some areas of Europe which is making it harder to sell wine at market value. The Languedoc-Roussillon region in France is the largest contributor to the wine lake, producing increasing amounts of wine despite lower sales and falling prices.
WineFrog explains Wine Lake
The wine lake is caused by lower demand for wine, lower prices of wine, and a reduction in exports which leave many European winegrowers in hardship conditions when they can’t sell their surplus wine. In the past ten years, there have been reform initiatives aimed at reducing the amount of wine produced and the amount of government distilling subsidies. Some of these reforms include ripping out thousands of acres of vineyard grapes in an effort to slow growth and rate of wine production.
The wine from the wine lake that isn’t exported or retailed is sold to the European governments to distill into industrial alcohol which also has a surplus supply. The reforms would include government intervention and less subsidy spending to distill wine, which will reduce the oversupply but not eliminate it completely. There has been some backlash from wine growers and vineyard owners who feel they are losing valuable and historical vines that may not be able to be grown back. New plantings will be permitted based on market revenue, economic stabilization and new stricter farming policies.
