2026-05-12
A new 20 million euro fund is being launched to help reshape the future of vineyards in Gironde, the French department centered on Bordeaux, where growers are facing a sharp contraction in vineyard land and a new round of uprooting already has been announced. The program, called “Foncier d’avenir en Gironde,” was introduced by the French government and the regional council in consultation with agricultural groups, local authorities, chambers of commerce and partner banks, and it is meant to support both the restructuring of vineyard land and broader efforts to diversify farm activity.
The initiative comes as Gironde’s vineyard area fell by 20,000 hectares from 2023 to 2025. Officials say the decline has left many growers with abandoned or underused plots and has made it harder to organize new agricultural projects. The fund is designed to buy or exchange parcels, mainly vineyards that have been uprooted, at market prices. It also covers wine stocks tied to those plots when the wine is intended for distillation, with the price set according to expected quality and the planned use of the distilled volumes.
Authorities in Gironde opened a call for expressions of interest on the prefecture’s website in recent days, with applications accepted until June 7, 2026. The goal is to identify vineyard owners who want to sell fallow land created by uprooting or vineyards scheduled to be uprooted in 2026, along with any associated wine stocks for distillation. A steering committee will then determine which areas should be prioritized for acquisition.
Officials involved in the program say the measure is meant to address several problems at once. They argue that balancing supply and demand in Bordeaux’s wine sector will still require uprooting some vines, but they also warn that leaving vineyards idle can raise plant-health risks, including the spread of flavescence dorée, a serious vine disease. Another concern is that past uprooting has often been carried out unevenly, leaving fragmented parcels that are less suitable for structured diversification projects.
Of the 20 million euro initial capital for the land trust fund, 14 million euro comes from four partner banks: Crédit Agricole d’Aquitaine, Banque Populaire Aquitaine Centre Atlantique, Crédit Mutuel du Sud-Ouest and Caisse d’Épargne Aquitaine-Poitou-Charentes. The Nouvelle-Aquitaine regional council is contributing 3 million euro, and another 3 million euro comes from the state and public institutions including the Bordeaux-Gironde Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Gironde Chamber of Agriculture.