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In the French region of Pyrénées-Orientales on the eastern edge of the Pyrenees, winegrowers are expecting the lowest harvest ever. "We haven't even received 200 millimetres of rain this year - it's like the Sahara," says Julien Thiery, responsible for viticulture at the Pyrénées-Orientales Chamber of Agriculture. According to him, total production in the department will barely reach 400,000 hectolitres, compared to over 550,000 last year and 750,000 ten years ago. The yield will be "the lowest we have ever seen". He expects only about 20 hectolitres per hectare instead of the usual thirty, a total drop of almost 40 per cent.
Due to the lack of rain, the berries are smaller than usual and have significantly less juice. In addition, many winegrowers fear that the plants will yield less in subsequent years because of the drought, even with a good water supply. However, this is becoming increasingly unlikely due to climate change. Jean-Marc Touzard, research director at the national institute Inrae, says: "In a way, the region is a laboratory. What is happening today in the Pyrénées-Orientales could happen in the Rhône Valley in ten years' time". Since hardly any subsidies for irrigation and crisis distillation are to be expected due to the red wine surplus, he recommends that winegrowers build up alternatives to current production practices. These could be other grape varieties, higher-quality wines, adapted soil management, wine tourism or diversification into other products such as aloe vera.
(al / Source: La Revue du Vin de France)