THE THREE WINE CRISES

We are, according to Mr. André Billy (Petit Journal), threatened with three wine crises - the first being almost liquidated - and it is important to quickly remedy a situation which is likely to dry up our sources of wine, without which France would no longer be France.
There is the wine crisis which involves the producer selling at a loss because there is an overabundance of goods on the market. It is from this crisis that we emerge. Then there is the wine crisis which consists, for the consumer, of paying dearly for a commodity which is in short supply from the producer. From the first crisis, it is the producer who bears the cost. The second is the consumer.
Currently, we are between two crises. In anticipation of an exceptionally abundant harvest, wine prices had fallen significantly and winegrowers were beginning to wonder if they were not going to be forced to subsist on bricks next winter, alongside their overflowing cellars. But it was so hot and so dry last August that the grapes toasted and the wine will be rare. It will therefore be expensive, and wine growers will be able to afford roast chicken — roasted like their grapes...
When I say that the wine will be expensive, that is a way of speaking, because it is already starting to be so. A liter of wine at 20 cents has cost 23 for a few days now. You will tell me that 23 cents is still an affordable price for most small budgets, and I will gladly grant it to you, but these 23 cents will soon become affordable. 30, and then it will be too expensive, we will be in the middle of wine crisis no. 2. This will not last very long, and we will soon see wine crisis no. 3 succeed it.
Wine crisis no. 3 is unique in that it affects both the consumer, by forcing him to pay too much for his wine, and the producer, by preventing him from selling as much wine as he would like, because the consumer restricts himself and responds to the increase in prices by reducing purchases.