In 2023, France took an unusual initiative to tackle a growing wine surplus challenge. They paid the producers to remove eligible wine from the drinking market and send it to distilleries. This measure was initially designed to cover up to 3 million hectolitres of wine, which is equivalent to about 79 million US gallons. And after a surge in demand, the government ultimately made available as much as €200 million for the crisis-distillation programme. The wine was not simply poured away; instead, it was distilled into alcohol intended for non-food uses, including industrial and energy applications.
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