Something to ‘wine’ about in France: climate change and plummeting production

The phrases “agriculture catastrophe” and “French vineyards” shouldn’t go together, but that’s how France’s Minister of Agriculture described the conditions this summer.

The wineries and vineyards in France suffered a “one-two punch” from extreme weather in 2021, and production is plummeting.

A vineyard in Barr, which is in the Alsace region of France

The Farm Ministry is expecting French wine production to be down 30%, to a level not seen since the 1970s.

First, the vineyards endured several nights of frost in April, which damaged the vines.

That was followed by heavy rain in June and July, which caused a mildew fungus to grow on the leaves and grapes.

The Champagne region had 10-times the normal amount of rainfall this summer. In mid-October, the ministry said Champagne production dropped 30% from the spring frost, and another 30% from mildew.

Still… 305 million bottles of bubbly will be produced, and the quality of the smaller-yield is expected to be excellent.

The grapes don’t all look like this… but it’s an example of what was seen too often this fall.

In Eastern France’s Alsace region, it was the wet summer that did the most damage.

We saw the damage first-hand on a visit to the Alsace region in the late-summer.

For one thing, the grapes weren’t ripening at their normal speed because the sun hadn’t been shining enough. The harvest will be delayed, but that’s the least of the problems.

At a passing glance, you could see many of the grapes shriveled up. Looking more closely, you could see the fungus itself.

We talked to the owner at the Noelle Bachert winery, which is southwest of Strasbourg in the town of Barr. The family has grown grapes for five generations, and no family member still living can remember a wetter summer.

This was one of our favorite stops, because it was smaller and members of the family that owns it spent plenty of time answering our questions. We shipped quite a few bottles home!

Italian wine officials expect production to be a bit lower in 2021, as well, but about 10%, compared to the 30% drop in France.

All that being said, wine growers prepare for this the best they can. They’ll mix grapes, and use stockpiled bottles from prior seasons. The 2020 harvest was exceptional, conveniently.

They survived a similar frost in 2017, and prices weren’t impacted.

The broader concern is how climate change will continue to impact France’s wine regions, which first found fame centuries ago.

Cheers to a less dramatic weather year for the vineyards in 2022!

More evidence of the fungus on the vines, caused by the wet summer.