After a disastrous 2021 year for the French wine region, where frost bit the vines hard, many had predicted that production in France would rebound this year. But that was before the record breaking heat wave and drought across Europe this summer. The French ministry of Agriculture and Food has now warned that worsening drought could curb predicted volumes.
Last year, a brutal spring frost led to the worst wine harvest for the country in 45 years, but most wine-growing regions have experienced much better conditions in 2022 (with the exception of the southwest which was hit by violent hailstorms in June).
“In these conditions, production is trending towards an increase compared with last year in all wine regions, with the exception of Charentes,” the report said. “However, soil drought combined with heatwaves could limit this increase if they persist until harvesting.”
The country has just experienced its driest July since 1959, according to ecological transition minister Christophe Béchu. The continued drought is pushing some younger vines to their limit and some producers have received special dispensation to water their plants past the May 1st irrigation cut-off.
According to Decanter, France’s 2022 wine harvest is likely to be between 42.6 million and 45.6m hectolitres, up by 13% to 21% on the frost-hit 2021 vintage and more in-line with the country’s five-year average. One hectolitre is equivalent to 100 litres.
Yet drought could impact on yields in the coming weeks, adding extra uncertainty in several regions, said the French agriculture ministry’s Agreste statistics unit. It added the 2022 growing season is generally running ahead of schedule, meaning harvest is likely to start relatively early this year.
Keep in mind, these reports only specify the volume of grapes. The expected vintage quality isn’t covered by the preliminary outlook. If the yields are low, but the quality is high, you can expect some pretty tasty juice, just likely with a higher price tag.
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