Dominique Giroud's viewpoint.
In its editorial of Thursday 13 November 2014, Le Temps claims that Dominique Giroud is the perpetrator of "viticultural offences". For months now, we have been reading or hearing that Dominique Giroud is a winegrower who cheats and tampers with his wines. This accusation has been repeated so often that the demonisation of the Valaisan is irreversible. Once again, the proverb "Slander, slander, something will always stick" has come true. Today, at the mere mention of Dominique Giroud's name, everyone cries "thief". Against this backdrop of suspicion, it has become impossible to get the facts to speak for themselves.
Dominique Giroud has never been convicted by any judge or prosecutor for his winegrowing practices. He is one of some 900 winegrowers who, over the last ten years, have had their practices questioned by federal or cantonal inspectors. What kind of oversights? The details are not known for the other 899 winegrowers. In the case of Dominique Giroud's excessive blends, full transparency was provided. In 2005, 2007 and 2008, less than 6,000 litres of wine, or 0.003% of the 19 million litres bottled over these three years, were subject to blending errors. In most cases, the aim was to improve the quality of the wines (vintage blends) and not to optimise the price. As a result, the profit made by inadvertence is so tiny as to be anecdotal: less than 15,000 francs out of a turnover of around 100 million francs over the three years concerned. The oversights observed in the cellars of Dominique Giroud and hundreds of other winegrowers are regrettable, but they are unintentional errors, as can happen in any human activity. In legal terms, they are minor irregularities that in no way justify the systematic campaign of demolition that has been waged for months against Dominique Giroud and, through him, the entire wine industry.
Marc Comina
Spokesman for Dominique Giroud
Source : Readers' letters published in Le Temps of 20.11.2014
