The president of the Rassemblement National, Jordan Bardella, during his visit to the Paris Agricultural Show, February 24, 2025. THIBAUD MORITZ / AFP
“The ferment changes everything! That’s for the morning, that,” exclaimed Jordan Bardella, tasting a white wine and gulping it down. The young president of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party was talking to a Bordeaux winemaker exhibiting at the Paris International Agricultural Show on Sunday, February 23. The short scene was put on his TikTok account, reinforcing his reputation as a bon vivant, despite his reputation as a bit of an ascetic. In the far right’s attempt to be the party that champions France’s traditions, wine has become central to its strategy. In 2022, the election of a number of MPs from wine-growing areas enabled the party to position itself as a key player in the industry.
In its discourse, particularly hammered home at the European Parliament, the RN politicizes wine by linking it to the party’s obsessions. “Wine is a marker of civilization, a marker of identity,” insisted MEP Gilles Pennelle. The party has also included wine in one of its favorite themes: the divide between a “France of terroir” (local products) and individual freedom, and a totalitarian nebula in which they mix the government, the European Union and environmentalists.
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