Bordeaux brokers: no demand, or €650 a tonneau
Jean-Samuel Eynard (CA33 / Gironde chamber) says calling a broker with wine to sell brings either no demand or about €650 per tonneau of Bordeaux, with commercialisations under 3 M hl. AOC Bordeaux’s Stéphane Gabard backs further surface adaptation but pushes valuation tools this autumn.
Pick is finishing across Bordeaux. The market feels like a slammed door.
Jean-Samuel Eynard, president of the Gironde Chamber of Agriculture, told Vitisphere the line that sinks morale: call a broker and say you have wine to sell — no demand, or about €650 a tonneau of Bordeaux. Commercialisations have fallen under 3 million hectolitres, and not all of that volume pays. After heat, fires and a harvest generous on one parcel and catastrophic on the next, he wants dignified exits and more surface adaptation so friches do not spread when growers quit.
Stéphane Gabard, president of AOC Bordeaux, hears the same discouragement among the weakest yields. He backs further vine pull as the fourth adaptation plan — offer and demand still mismatch — but insists pull alone will not fix the book. Value comes first: EU article 172 ter price orientations this autumn, a prix tunnel under the farm emergency law, and producer organisations waiting on decree. Quality in 2026 looks promising in whites and reds; volumes stay wild by parcel.
Eynard wants orientation prices for organic and HVE Bordeaux so the “true price” can be spoken aloud — even if négociants bristle — because unpaid growers will not stay suppliers forever.
Mini-concept: when the broker’s answer is silence or €650, the crisis is not only volume — it is a price that no longer funds winter.
Keep: a flavoured can never needed a courtier’s shrug. A Bordeaux bottle did — choose one priced so the grower survives winter.
Remember: Eynard — no demand or ~€650/tonneau; sales <3 M hl; Gabard — more arrachage + 172 ter / prix tunnel / OPs this autumn; 2026 quality up, volumes wild.
Source: Vitisphere