Drawing.

Harvests in Alsace.

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G. VARELA / 20 MINUTES

  • Crément d'Alsace, after a drop in sales during confinement, is regaining color.

  • Even if they remain cautious, morale is high among the winegrowers who began harvesting for Crémant d'Alsace since August 24, an early harvest this year again.

  • If the sales figures for July and August are not yet known, an improvement in June gives hope to a sector which last year broke all its records with 35 million bottles of crémant sold.

In the aftermath of deconfinement, it's not quite a hangover for the Crémant d'Alsace industry.

After the Covid crisis and a timid recovery in sales, as for the entire wine industry, the drink seems to sparkle again in the sales department.

For now, we are still active in the vines so that this year will be as exceptional for the crémant sector as it was in 2019. The harvests for the Crémant d'Alsace began a week ago , precocious like last year, while those of still wines are already announced, which will take place this Thursday.

If sales are picking up again, up 5% in June compared to June 2019, it is still not the party in the village.

Still, it was going so well.

Last year, for the first time underlines Olivier Sohler, director of the Syndicate of producers of Crémant d'Alsace, the volume of 35 million bottles sold in a single year was reached.

A marketing record and a bar crossed.

Better yet, according to the director, the first two months of 2020 seemed to confirm this trend with record production volumes approaching the bar of 300,000 hectoliters produced.

Another production record.

“All hopes were high to have an exceptional year 2020 in terms of sales,” says Olivier Sohler.

A gradual recovery

But there you go, patatras.

The winegrowers had to revise their ambitions downwards with the health and economic crisis of the Covid.

Sales fell around 15% in the first six months of the year.

“According to certain distribution channels, they have stopped altogether,” explains Frédéric Bach, director of the Association of Alsace winegrowers (AVA).

There were very few exports while in 2019 this represented almost 29% of sales.

Difficulties on the national market too.

"The restaurants did not buy any, cellar sales were stopped, there was no show, usually beneficial for winegrowers harvesting" adds Frédéric Bach.

Balance sheet, in April, sales reached only 40% of a normal April.

The "party" drink has suffered the full brunt of the cessation of weddings, birthdays, work meetings, salons for harvesting winegrowers.

Now, the industry is cautiously hoping to see this upturn in June continue and is eyeing exports, despite the difficulties of contacts with foreign countries or even American taxes.

"We do not yet know anything," says Olivier Sohler, who relies on the main markets for Alsace crémant, namely Belgium, Germany and the USA.

As for sales in July and August, this seems encouraging according to the winegrowers, even if tourists arrived late in the Alsatian wine-growing towns.

“But it's what will happen from September to December that is important, since these are the main consumption months for crémant.

We have to be careful.

"

For Alsatian winegrowers, it's "Touche pas aux vendanges tardives"

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