The experts in the EU say that there is a massive overproduction of poor wine. Against the background of reduced domestic consumption in key countries such as France and Italy, and increased competition from the so-called new world, EU Commission reform proposals unveiled this week have the merit of attempting to deal with the difficulties of an industry conflicted by the contrasting pulls of the head and the heart, of business and tradition.
EU commissioner for agriculture Mariann Fischer Boel believes the wide-ranging proposals will "boost competition, drain the infamous wine lakes and make things more simple". But a chorus of caution and disapproval from the European wine industry served to remind her that while the problems are obvious, solutions acceptable to all are more opaque.
A key proposal of the five-year plan, which has yet to be approved by EU farm ministers, envisages about 200,000 hectares of vines being dug up via a carrot and stick approach of progressively declining payments. This is aimed at ending the surplus production of wine in Europe - much of which ends up being turned into industrial alcohol or biofuel - the cost of which is a huge drain on the EU's annual wine budget of €1.3 billion.
In addition, new vine planting will be banned until 2013 when, worryingly, new varieties will be allowed in protected regions like Chianti and Rioja. Cheaper table wines will also be labelled with their grape variety and vintage in an attempt to meet the strong challenge posed by new world wines from the likes of Australia and Chile. In Ireland, for example, where the number of people drinking wine has grown remarkably in recent years, four in every 10 bottles sold is from either Chile or Australia.
This is a recent development. For hundreds of years there was a dominance of European wines, particularly those of France. However, in the past 20 years the more efficient consumer-aware producers of the new world have made huge inroads into European and world markets with a mixture of sharp marketing, consistent quality and reasonable prices. This development has not affected the elite in Bordeaux, Burgundy and Piedmont but it has put great pressure on less successful European producers who increasingly find it hard to sell their produce.
Ms Fischer Boel's comment that the "wine sector is very emotional" is a major understatement. The issue is felt so seriously in places such as the Languedoc-Rousillon region of southern France that supermarkets selling foreign wine have been fire-bombed. In such vulnerable areas, where wine production is part of the way of life, the proposed changes will find little support.