THEY may be novices in the world of bombings and bala-clava helmets but France’s “wine commandos” are determined to attract attention.

More usually associated with life’s pleasures, French wine makers have sunk to depths of gloom over dwindling returns and a deepening “wine lake” as a result of competition from the New World.

Instead of adapting, however, some are blaming the government. In an extraordinary signal of discontent – and disconnection from reality – they have promised terrorist attacks unless Nicolas Sarkozy, the new president, does something to shore up prices.

In a routine familiar from Bilbao to Baghdad, figures in black balaclavas issued an ultimatum to Sarkozy in a video broadcast on French television. “If nothing has changed in a month,” it said, “and if prices for wine have not risen again . . . wine makers will take action.”

It might have seemed funny were it not for the record of thuggery: the hooded figures were members of CRAV, a militant group from Languedoc, in southern France, that has already shot at lorries transporting foreign wine and vandalised supermarkets suspected of “collaborating” with foreign suppliers.

“That is just a warm-up,” said a spokesman for the group, warning that “blood will flow” unless Sarkozy steps in to support the faltering industry.

The 52-year-old Sarkozy has infuriated union leaders with pledges to get France working again through a series of market reforms. But the wine producers’ resentment of the president may have more to do with the fact that he does not drink alcohol.

“How can we trust a president who doesn’t like wine?” asked Philippe Prévert, a producer from the Loire.

It may be a legacy of the revolution, but from farmers to fishermen the French are used to their “agricultural workers” being in a state of perpetual revolt. The broadcast by CRAV – which stands for nothing more revolutionary than the Regional Committee for Viticultural Action – failed to inspire much terror.

In the wine world there were even expressions of sympathy for the cause. “Our prices cannot compete with wines from Chile or South Africa,” said Jean-Marc Ribé, whose award-winning Vin de Pays d’Oc is exported all over the world. “A field worker earns $150 (£75) in Chile and €1,500 (£1,000) in France. I am all for free competition, but we are not competing with the same weapons.”

Philippe Mendez, another producer, said: “I can understand why certain wine growers feel stranded and desperate.” Foreign producers did not have to apply the same stringent regulations as their French counterparts, he said: “For instance, foreign wine growers have been adding wood shavings for years to give the wine an oaky flavour that is so popular, but we’re not allowed to do that. It’s not fair.”

French dominance of the international market has been eroding for years under the onslaught of good and cleverly marketed wines from New World countries such as Argen-tina and Chile. The problem is particularly acute for Languedoc wines, whose production far outstrips demand.

CRAV called on the government to impose a minimum price system for wine, but that seems unlikely at a time when the European Union, a more than generous supporter of French agriculture over the decades, is paying France to dig up some of its vineyards as a way of draining the wine lake.

As part of the same programme, vintage wine is being turned into ethanol to serve as factory fuel in what seems like a crime to many producers, not to mention the boys in balaclavas from CRAV. They referred to a wine makers’ revolt in 1907 and vowed to stay true to the spirit of an uprising “where several died so that future generations could live by their profession”.

The communiqué added: “We will see to it that our children know what it is to make wine.”

Besides shooting at lorries – and setting one on fire – they have blown up a railway line between Nîmes and Narbonne and vandalised government buildings and a warehouse filled with imported wine.

Last month a supermarket in Magalas, in the heart of Languedoc, was attacked with a small explosive device that blew off the shop’s metal security curtain.

Stanislas Pujol, in charge of the shop’s wine selection, was indignant. “They picked the wrong target,” he said. “In this supermarket we don’t sell foreign wines. We understand the winegrowers’ problems. My father is one of them.”

On the same night as the attack in Magalas, electricity was cut off at the Leader Price supermarket in Narbonne after an explosion claimed by CRAV. The shop later had to destroy £50,000 worth of refrigerated food.

The windows of other supermarkets in the region were shattered. Witnesses saw figures in balaclavas fleeing from one of the scenes.

It was enough to inspire sympathy for the French secret police, stretched as they are by Corsican and Breton extremism, not to mention the Islamic fundamentalist threat.

“These idiots do not have to kill someone for us to take a keen interest in blocking their activities,” said an interior ministry source. “Those who engage in this sort of behaviour will be severely punished.”

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