Anger over €1.89 bottles of Bordeaux wine sold in French supermarkets

Bottles of Bordeaux wine are on sale for €1.89 in Lidl supermarkets across France, sparking backlash from winegrowers. 

September marks the start of the autumn Foire aux Vins (wine fairs), a commercial event that happens twice a year where bottles of wine are sold at reduced prices.

While attractive for customers, wine industry representatives say these discounts undervalue their products at a time when producers are already concerned by the damaging impact of wine fraud, and uncertainty surrounding additional customs duties imposed by US President, Donald Trump.

Declining wine consumption is also an issue. Some Bordeaux winemakers have experienced several years of poor harvests, while others struggle to manage excess supply. Vineyard owners are now being paid to burn their vines in an effort to reduce production levels.

The accumulation of these obstacles has led the industry into crisis.

“€1.89 for Bordeaux, €9.99 for Champagne, Lidl's wine fair has shocked the entire industry. In the midst of a wine crisis, seeing our bottles sold off at such low prices is a real betrayal of the work of winegrowers. Faced with these rock-bottom prices that undermine the value of our profession, how long are we going to accept this contempt?” wrote specialist wine publication Vitisphere on social media. 

Delicatessen Le P'tit Comptoir based in Thiviers (Dordogne) took to Facebook to criticise the “mentality of large retailers” and to encourage consumers to make ethical choices. 

“The famous Lidl wine fair. €1.89 a bottle of Côtes du Rhône or Bordeaux. Fair price? At what price were these wines bought from the winegrower?” 

Despite the backlash Lidl remains a popular vendor for consumers, with the discount retailer having sold some 180 million bottles of French wine on average per year since 2021, as reported by a regional branch of FranceBleu.

Protests on the horizon?

Wine producers and farming unions have previously protested against supermarkets selling wine at discounted prices - with actions mainly taking place at stores near wine-growing regions. 

In November 2024, and again this July, Lidl set the price of €1.99 per bottle of Côtes du Rhône, and €1.39 for the second bottle purchased. This led to a series of protests from angry farmers who entered Lidl stores and placed stickers on the bottles with the hashtag: Balance ta grande distribution (denounce your supermarkets). They also hung A4 signs reading: Nos vies valent plus que leurs profits (our lives are worth more than their profits).

A similar scenario was seen in March 2024 when Carrefour supermarkets sold cases of six bottles of AOP (appellation origine protégée) Comte de Maignac for €9.96, working out at €1.66 per bottle. This also sparked protests and backlash from Gironde farming union FNSEA 33. 

In the same month, winegrowers from the Viti33 group gathered in front of a regional Lidl distribution hub off the A63 motorway near Bordeaux, after bottles of Bordeaux wines were being sold for €1.89. 

The group claimed that any sales prices below €2.50 contribute to the decline of their industry.