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E.U. wine spat bathes streets in red

Posted On: Apr. 6, 2016 12:00 AM CST

E.U. wine spat bathes streets in red

Risk managers might need to add another item to their supply chain risk registers: Irate French winemakers.

According to wine industry magazine Decanter, about 150 French winegrowers, angry at the amount of mass-produced Spanish wine being imported to France, recently gathered at a highway toll station in southern France just 10 miles away from the Spanish border.

Some of the wine makers, from the Languedoc-Rousillon region, then hijacked five tankers filled with Spanish wine and opened the taps on the tanks.

The road became flooded with wine.

Oh la la.

Spanish authorities were quick to condemn the winegrowers' actions, according to reports, with the Spanish Foreign Ministry saying it condemned the aggression of the action.

“These events, which unfortunately occur regularly, are a cause of concern for the Spanish government, as they represent a flagrant violation of several basic principles of the European Union, such as the free circulation of goods between member states,” it said in a statement.

“Spain has already officially protested to French authorities, and urged them to adopt all necessary measures to guarantee the total security and free circulation of people and goods,” the statement added.