The French use wine as a hand sanitizer.

FranceAgriMer, the French government's agricultural office, says that around 300 million liters of wine will need to be disposed of this season. This is due to a sharp drop in orders from around the world as bars and restaurants have been forced to close as part of lockdowns aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

According to FranceAgriMer, starting June 5th, 33 distilleries nationwide will be authorized to purchase over 200 million liters of surplus wine to convert it into ethanol or hand sanitizer, freeing it up from winemakers' storage. The French agricultural office confirmed that this special measure has been approved by the EU and that the EU will fund the conversion process.

Winemakers need to register for the program before June 19th and specify the quantity of wine they wish to convert into ethanol. For every 100 liters of wine submitted to the program, farmers will receive a subsidy of 78 euros for wines from a specific region, and 58 euros for wines not affiliated with any particular vineyard region.

Didier Josso, head of wine management at FranceAgriMer, stated that under no circumstances would distilled products be reused to produce another type of wine.

Bordeaux and Champagne are two wine-growing regions most affected by the Covid-19 crisis. Winemakers in Burgundy suffered less damage, but in the last four years they have only had one complete vintage, following extreme weather events including hail in 2016, frost in 2017, and drought in 2019.

Italian wine producers are also considering a plan to convert their unsold wine into hand sanitizer. Last month, the country's agricultural union requested government approval and funding for the plan. They expect to purchase between 150 and 200 million liters of unsold wine for the program.

In Spain, sherry producer González-Byass also produced 5,000 liters of hand sanitizer for hospitals, medical facilities, and the Red Cross.

Huong Thao