It is expected that French winemakers will reduce their wine production by nearly a third this year compared to previous years because their vineyards suffer from frost, severe weather and disease in spring and summer.
It is predicted that compared with 2020, the country’s wine production this year will fall by 29%, reaching the lowest level in decades. FranceMinistry of Agriculture.
Almost all French wine regions-including Bordeaux, Champagne and Languedoc-Roussillon- Affected by non-seasonal spring frosts, Which damages the grapes that grow on the vines that grow during warm weather. However, some areas are more affected than others.
The production of the Champagne region, including the sparkling wine of the same name, is expected to be 36% lower than last year. The frost was followed by heavy summer rains, which caused the growth of mold, which is a disease that causes the grapes and leaves to dry out.
The Burgundy-Beaujolais region has been severely damaged by frost, hail and disease, and its total production is expected to drop by nearly half compared with 2020.
However, French drinkers wine It can be relieved that due to the reserves of previous years, the poor harvest in 2021 is not expected to have an impact on the supply of the wine market.
The Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement: “Spring frosts have reduced a large part of the production, which will be the lowest level in history, lower than the production in 1991 and 2017,” referring to the two years when wine production was affected by severe spring frosts. .
The ministry forecasts this year’s production of 33.3 million hectoliters, which is 25% lower than the national average production of the past five years. One hundred liters is equivalent to 100 liters, or about 133 bottles of normal size wine.
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French wine producers warned earlier in the summer that the country may lose most of its grape harvest, and the country is the world’s second-largest wine producer after Italy.
In April, French Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie described the damage caused by freezing temperatures to vines and fruit crops as “probably the greatest agricultural disaster of the early 21st century.”
The untimely cold weather caused people to Climate crisis, The French government stated at the time that a loss of one-third of French wine production would result in a loss of nearly 2 billion euros (1.7 billion pounds) in sales.
