Heavy rain, hail and mildew have destroyed most of this year’s wine harvest in eastern France’s Jura region, leaving winegrowers scrambling.
Nestled between the famous Burgundy wine region and Switzerland, the Jura is one of France’s oldest wine-growing regions, with around 200 vineyards spread over 2,000 hectares.
The unusual altitude and cool climate of the area give a distinctive flavor to its wines, some of which are famous, especially the white wine known as “Vin Jaune” (yellow wine).
But this year is giving winegrowers a bitter taste as the Jura — the smallest of France’s 17 major wine regions — is headed for a spectacular 71 percent drop in this year’s wine production volume, according to a government estimate.
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The main culprit is a frost in April that killed many of the budding vines.
“The vines had already grown shoots of three or four centimeters (1.1-1.2 inches),” said Benoit Sermier, 33, a viticulturist in Jura. “These leaves were very thin and fragile and the sub-zero temperatures destroyed them, costing us 60 percent of the harvest.”
“Especially unfavorable”
Although this year’s harvest is expected to be of high quality, the lack of quantity puts winegrowers in a precarious position, as frost in previous years did not allow them to build up enough wine stock for the lean season, said Sermier, head of a local wine cooperative.
Vintners were also hit hard by incessant rain in July, which forced them to reapply vine protection treatments “every three or four days,” said Patrick Rollet, who grows organic wine and owns cattle. “I don’t think any vintner can remember ever seeing that much rain,” he said.
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The persistent moisture also facilitated the spread of powdery mildew, a fungus that can destroy entire vineyards.
“Compared to the last 25 years, our losses are historic,” said Olivier Badoureaux, director of the Jura winegrowers committee.
France’s total wine volume is set to fall by almost a fifth this year due to adverse weather conditions, the French agriculture ministry said last week.
Total wine production is now estimated to fall by 18% to 39.3 million hectoliters.
A little over a month ago before the wine harvest began, the ministry had still targeted up to 43 million hectoliters.
However, “particularly adverse” weather conditions forced the revision as the extent of damage caused by frost, hail and mildew became clearer.
“wet conditions”
The Charente region, in southwestern France, is looking at a 35 percent drop in wine production this year, the largest drop in volume of any French region.
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This, the agriculture ministry said, was due to “a lower number of bunches of grapes” and “insufficient flowering due to moisture”.
Losses in the Val de Loire and Burgundy-Beaujolais regions are also expected to be above average.
Champagne production, meanwhile, is likely to fall by 16 percent, but will remain about eight percent above its average over the past five years.
The impact of the bad weather is compounded by the decision of winegrowers in recent years to reduce the size of their vineyards in response to falling wine consumption in France, especially red wine.
Source: AFP