France ploughs €130m into uprooting vines

France's government's just announced a €130 million bailout for its struggling wine sector, with a big chunk going towards funding vineyard uprooting schemes. It's a pretty drastic move in response to climate chaos, oversupply, and tanking sales – the harvest is down 16% from the five-year average, and they're also pushing the EU to tap its crisis reserve for distilling unmarketable wine. This is significant because it signals how serious things have got in one of Europe's biggest wine regions, and it could set the tone for broader EU agricultural support debates.