The rebound in French wine production suspended by drought
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“The sweet music of the press has resumed”, welcomes Jean-Marie Fabre, president of the Independent Winegrowers. He began harvesting his whites on Monday August 8, i.e. a fortnight earlier than a year ago. And the heat which has accelerated the vegetative rhythm continues to weigh on his estate, located in Fitou in the Aude. “At noon, we have between 36°C and 37°C and in the evening the thermometer does not drop below 27°C”. A situation described as unprecedented by Mr. Fabre.
“ Usually, being at the edge of the pond of Leucate, we have rather cool nights. However, this year we have no maritime entrance and therefore no freshness in the evening, and the day the mercury exceeds 35 ° C for three weeks, a month ». He even measured peaks at 60°C at the foot of stumps planted in schist soils. “It is difficult for me to understand the impact of this heat stress which is added to the water stress on the harvest”, adds the winemaker. He is counting on precipitation at the end of the week to ease the tension on the vines, which are under severe strain.
Same feverish expectation of rain in Burgundy. “We feel a lot of concern. The month of June was very rainy and the vines survived on this capital. But since then we haven’t had a drop of water and we’ve come to the limit. In some plots, everything has stopped. I even decided to delay the start of the harvest. I hope to attack between August 25 and 29 while I was planning a start between August 22 and 25. Just 10 mm of water would be enough to restart everything. The next fortnight will be decisive.says Thiébault Huber, president of the Confederation of Burgundy appellations and winegrowers.
These uncertainties about the impact of the current drought have not escaped Agreste, the statistics department of the Ministry of Agriculture. As every year, he engaged in the delicate exercise of forecasting wine volumes in France. With certainty, however, all the vineyards spread over the territory are ahead, so the harvest will be early. According to figures published on Tuesday August 9, he expects production to be between 42.6 and 45.6 million hectoliters. Either in sharp rebound, in a range between 13% and 21%, after the poor harvest of 2021. France would find, if these figures were confirmed, the volumes collected on average over the last five years. “However, the surface drought associated with the heat waves, if they were to continue until the harvest could start this increase”emphasizes Agreste cautiously.
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