Grape-picker shortage threatens Beaujolais Nouveau

Beaujolais Nouveau might not arrive in the shops this year

BEAUJOLAIS, France (CNN) -- Bad news for the thousands of wine lovers who eagerly anticipate the words "Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive."

This year there are fears that one of the most famous of French wines ne va pas arriver after all -- or at least not in its usual quantity.

The annual cork-popping ritual that takes place just after midnight on the third Thursday of November is under threat because there are simply not enough people to pick the grapes used to produce it.

Every year around 40,000 casual workers, many of them students, are taken on from all over Europe to harvest the Gamay grapes from the beginning of September.

Two months later the first bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau appear. The wine, with a flavour that has been likened to bananas, cherries and even strawberry jam, is regarded as crucial to the industry because it offers the first official taste of the new French vintage.

Millions of bottles are sent out around the world for the traditional celebration.

But with rates of pay in the region of 30 francs an hour, the vital job of picking the grapes is not proving very popular with young people looking to gain some financial reward as well as life experience from their summer holiday.

'Very hard work'

"It is very hard work, eight hours a day you are bending over in the vineyards and it is not well paid," grower Natalie Remuet admitted. She offers 200 francs for an eight-hour day and provides free accommodation for pickers, but they have to pay 35 francs for a meal.

The improving economy in France is another important factor, according to UK Overseas Handling, a recruitment agency providing annual and seasonal staff to France.

"Unemployment in France is the lowest it's been for 10 years. There's a lot more work around so students have got more choice and fewer of them will pick a back-breaking job that doesn't pay much," consultant Richard Green told CNN.com.

"It's not just grape-picking. All seasonal work is affected."

Growers are not allowed to use machines to pick their grapes if they want to retain the important legal status "appellation controlee."

"That guarantees the origin of the wine, the grapes used and the method of production. If the grapes were harvested by machine, the wine couldn't legally be called Beaujolais," said Gareth Lawrence, course director of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust, in the UK.

"Also the production technique of Beaujolais Nouveau requires whole, undamaged grapes and that wouldn't be possible with machines."

There is still time for grape-pickers to come forward, but not much. Unless they do, there could be a little less cheer than usual at the most famous celebration in the wine industry's calendar come November.

Beaujolais est arrive!

Beaujolais Wines
The Wine and Spirit Education Trust
Gap Year

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