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The wine harvest in France is expected to be even smaller than originally anticipated. According to a new report from the French Ministry of Agriculture, extreme weather, diseases, and deforestation are leading to a harvest volume of 39.3 million hectoliters. This is below the estimated 40 to 43 million hectoliters in August.
Production in Bordeaux is expected to fall to under 4 million hectoliters, a decrease of ten percent compared to the already small harvest of 2023. In the Loire, the decline is expected to be 35 percent, in Burgundy and Beaujolais 25 percent, in Champagne 16 percent, 13 percent in Alsace, twelve percent in the Southwest (Provence and Rhône Valley), and four percent in Languedoc-Roussillon. The Jura has been hit the hardest by frost, shattering, and mildew: there, the harvest volume will be 71 percent smaller. Only in the Southwest of the country is a slight increase of one percent expected compared to 2023. Overall, however, French production will still be higher than in the particularly small harvests of 2017 and 2021.
A smaller harvest is also expected for Germany in 2024. In Austria, the volume is estimated at around two million hectoliters, more than 15 percent below the five-year average. In Italy, the decline is around twelve percent, and in Spain, it could be up to 20 percent.
(al / Source: vitisphere)