CRAV - Union for Viticultural Action in the Languedoc  Add/Read Comments

"Several balaclava-clad men claiming to represent militant winemaker group, Comite d'Action Regionale Viticole (CRAV), made their threats in a video passed to the France 3 television channel in Languedoc Roussillon.

Addressing the new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, they said: "If in one month nothing has changed and prices have not risen, then the winemakers will emerge from the maquis (hinterlands) and act."

More than half of Languedoc winemakers reported a loss last year, despite success for some of the region's new brands.

And tension is mounting in the region as it prepares to mark one hundred years since the height of the 1907 winemakers' revolt, which saw hundreds of thousands of winemakers and local supporters take to the streets. Several people died when the government called in army troops.

Vintners today should reignite the spirit of 1907, said the speaker in the recent CRAV video.

"Winemakers, we call on you to revolt. We are at the point of no return," he said, from a location on the border between the Herault and Aude provinces. "If Sarkozy does not have the sense to support the wine sector, he will be responsible for what happens."

More on this at the BBC which has the video clip.