Tariquet, one of the largest wine estates in France, in great difficulty

The Tariquet estate, a major producer of white wine and Armagnac in the Gers, faced in particular with a succession of poor harvests, was placed at its request in safeguard procedure by the Auch commercial court, the Auch commercial court announced on Monday. company in a press release. “After four successive poor harvests due to unfavorable weather (unheard of in the production region) and to cope with developments in local and international markets, the Tariquet estate has decided to act rather than suffer and is undertaking a reorganization project strategic”, he underlined, adding “having obtained the opening of a safeguard procedure with the Auch commercial court”.

This procedure initiated on Friday has the advantage of “freezing the reimbursement of past debts” and of offering a clear and protective framework for initiating reflection on the future of the company, specified a source close to the matter, while the domain claims to want to carry out “a lasting reorganization”. “This initiative aims to ensure the sustainability of the activity by providing the Tariquet estate with an organization and financing adapted to its new course, while preserving the continuity of its operation,” explains the estate which, with 1,125 hectares of vines, is one of the largest in size in France.

8 million bottles of white wine per year

The procedure provides “an observation period of six months» and a first evaluation «intermediate» will take place on April 4, the commercial court registry told AFP. Led by brothers Armin and Rémy Grassa, “fifth generation” of this family to operate it, it produces in Eauze (Gers) on average 8 million bottles of white wine and 120,000 bottles of Bas-Armagnac per year, specifies the press release. .

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In recent years, the estate has been confronted, beyond poor harvests linked to “climate disruption and its agricultural hazards (frost, hail, mildew)”, to “cyclical and structural difficulties”, such as the health crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, rising production costs or “customs strategies like that of the United States”, which increased sales from around 8 million to 5.5 million bottles per year between 2021 and 2023. Affected sometimes by precipitation, drought, or late frost, 2024 wine production in France was announced at the end of November down 23% over one year to around 37 million hectoliters, a volume close to the levels historic lows of 2017 and 2021.