“88%,” Alain says. “Can you imagine it, from one year to the next?” You are still doing the same job, working just as hard, but your income drops by 88%!” The Agriculture Ministry has just released the official figures for the département of the Aude. In 2008 net income was only 12% of 2007’s.
Veronica and I have been invited to lunch at a shepherd’s hut on the slopes of the mountain which overlooks our Corbières village. We are looking down at the vineyards in the valley. The weather has suddenly turned cold and the vines have put on their autumn coats.
“The red, that’s Carignan,” Alain continues. Our host, now retired, used to grow grapes. “The bright yellow-green, that’s Grenache, the mottled yellow-brown, that’s Syrah. It’s all going to disappear. All those vines. And nobody has any idea what’s going to replace it.”
