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Brexit threatens French wine exports

French wine dealers say the effects of Brexit and plummeting pound are being felt from Burgundy to Bordeaux.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

Brexit is already taking a visible toll on the wine trade between France and the UK, reports RFI.

The falling pound was tipped to see prices of French wine's rise by up to eight percent in the UK - and put a serious dent in wine-lover's purchasing power.

French wine dealers say the effects of Brexit and plummeting pound are being felt from Burgundy to Bordeaux.

One example of this can be seen during the annual en primeur campaign in Bordeaux, when major châteaux offer their 2015 vintage up to local négociants, who then sell it to international merchants - ahead of the actual bottling.

Pablo Huart, the director of Le Cercle by Vintage & Cie, an upmarket wine cellar on the rue Saint Honoré in Paris, says Brexit is adding to the already deflated trade.

“It’s really recent and we’ve started to see a reaction among wine professionals we work with … there’s lots of uncertainty. Nobody really knows what’s going to happen,” he says.

Read more of this report from RFI.