English and Welsh wine producers have welcomed the decision by the EU that its extension to the vineyard planting ban will not apply to the UK, writes Mike Dennis.
This planting restriction had been seen as the “greatest challenge to the continued development of the wine industry in the UK”,.
Under this EU planting ban, UK wine producers would have had to stop any further planting once production exceeded 3.3million bottles (25,000 hectolitres), averaged over five years.
Although the EU Commission wanted to get rid of the planting restrictions, they were forced to compromise and extend the ban to 2015, in order to get other reforms through, which are designed to make EU production more competitive.
The planting ban was introduced in the EU in 1999 in response to the over production of poor quality wine in the larger member state producing countries, which resulted in the EU ‘wine lake’.
The current EU wine reform, introduced by EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, aims to revive the European wine industry. The UK Vineyards Association (UKVA) argued UK producers have been steadily producing more and more quality wine, especially within the sparkling wine sector, and demand from both domestic and overseas markets has never been higher.
Mike Roberts, of RidgeView Wine Estate,said: “Our recent and current rate of planting will yield a production of over four million bottles by 2012 – an increase of over 100% of our present production. Further expansion is planned for this and the next years and we foresee our production may well double again.
“The UK is producing and building a demand for what is now recognised as world-class and competitive wines, without any subsidy or market assistance from the EU,” he said. “We have fulfilled the prime objective of the EU Commission’s wine reform – to have European countries produce what the consumer wants. The EU has acknowledged our efforts by exempting us from the planting ban.”
From Talking Retail.com
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