Muscadet winemakers from the Nantes region of the Loire Valley in Northern France have been dealt a severe blow at a time when the industry is at an all-time low.

The region faces one of the toughest periods in its recent history as the French government released figures showing that AOC Muscadet prices, in euros, have fallen by 50 per cent on average this year and around 60 growers have gone bankrupt since the latest grape harvest began in early September.

The latest blow came as vandals laid waste to nine vats of Muscadet which have been deliberately emptied at a production plant run by the Caves de la Nantaise cooperative in Le Pallet, near Nantes, causing a spill of 5,000 hectolitres of wine into surrounding fields.

Intruders are thought to have entered the Co-op premises before dawn and opened the taps at the base of each of the 10 metre-high stainless-steel vats.

“All lines of enquiry are being explored in the police investigation, ranging from the possibility of the attack being carried out by other wine growers to a mindless act (of vandalism). No conclusions can be drawn at this stage,” he said.