THE FRENCH COMITÉ RÉGIONAL D'ACTION VITICOLE IS BACK IN ACTION: THE EXTREMIST LANGUEDOC -ROUSSILLON VIGNERONS HIJACKED FIVE TANKER TRUCKS OF SPANISH BULK WINE AND EMPTIED THEIR CONTENTS ON THE HIGHWAY NEAR THE SPANISH BORDER

More than once, in France, defending the wine culture and the economic interests tied to it, has taken the shape of guerilla warfare. The Comité Régional d'Action Viticole, active especially in the Languedoc-Roussillon territory, together with wine lobbies have been pressuring the French government for decades. The history of the "Comité" is marked by bombings, sabotage and acts of arson, and even two ministers of Agriculture have been involved. The most recent action was just a few days ago when 150 French vignerons met at the toll station on the Le Boulou highway, 10 kilometers from the border with Spain, to monitor the traffic of Spanish bulk wine entering the country.

The surveillance was well prepared by some wine producers who decided to hijack five tanker trucks, emptying their contents - tens of thousands of liters of Spanish wine -directly onto the highway. It was a spectacular action to denounce the unflattering record (at least in their eyes) that France seems to desire as import leader of cheap Spanish wine; especially in today's world, where the European market is so competitive, sometimes maddeningly so, but nonetheless free and full of possibilities both for Spanish bulk wine sold at less than one euro per liter and the wines of Languedoc...