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Heavy hail caused extensive damage to vineyards in the Chablis appellation on Wednesday evening. According to the "Commission Chablis des Bureau interprofessionnel des vins de Bourgogne", around 50 per cent of the vineyards were affected. Between 80 and 100 per cent of the young shoots in the affected areas have been destroyed. Affected winegrowers speak of "scenes of devastation".
"We were spared the frost, but then the winter came", said Louis Moreau, winegrower in Beine and Vice President of the Commission Chablis, to the trade magazine Vitisphere.
"It's a disaster," confirms his colleague Thierry Mothe from the Domaine du Colombier in Fontenay-près-Chablis. The municipalities of Lignorelles, La Chapelle-Vaupelteigne, Villy, Maligny and Ligny-le-Châtel have fared no better. "The entire Serein valley was hit, with damage between 80 and 100 per cent. The hail protection cannons did not manage to melt the hailstones completely. We have no tools to deal with such intense weather events," explained Mothe. The French Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, reiterated on X his "full support for the winegrowers hit hard by this exceptional episode".
(ru/ vitisphere)