The French wine harvest this autumn could be significantly lower than last year due to very unfavourable weather conditions. According to the Reuters news agency, the French Ministry of Agriculture reports that production could be up to 13 percent lower than in 2018. The reasons are frost and rain in spring and the massive heat wave in recent weeks. At the end of June, the highest temperature since records began was recorded at 45.9 degrees.
The ministry's experts calculated their first estimate with a harvest of between 42.8 million and 46.4 million hectolitres. In 2018, the figure was 49.4 million hectolitres. This figure is between two and five percent below the average of the past five years. In the Bordelais and Burgundy, the vines were damaged mainly by frost and hail in spring, while the south of France suffered significant losses due to the massive heat wave. The Champagne region, on the other hand, has so far suffered almost no damage, according to the report.
(uka)