France’s wine harvest is expected to decrease by up to 16% in 2024 compared to the previous year, as excessive rainfall during the flowering period adversely affected the fruit set, and a rainy early summer led to widespread outbreaks of downy mildew in vineyards from Bordeaux to Alsace, according to the French agriculture ministry’s Agreste statistics unit.
The country’s wine production is projected to drop to between 40 million and 43 million hectolitres this year, down from 47.9 million hectolitres in 2023, based on the initial official forecast released last Friday. This reduction could make it one of the smallest harvests in the last century.
‘Downy mildew, encouraged by the wet conditions earlier in the summer, is affecting most wine-growing regions and might lead to significant losses,’ Agreste reported. ‘Additionally, periods of frost or hail have further diminished production locally.’
French vintners have been grappling with severe and irregular weather patterns in recent years, including frost events in 2017 and 2021 that dropped production levels below 40 million hectolitres. Such low production volumes have only been recorded six times in the last century, including three occasions during and immediately following World War II, as per historical production records.
‘Production is expected to fall in almost all wine-growing basins,’ Agreste said.
The estimates are provisional due to various grape-health issues and weather events affecting French vineyards, and although high soil moisture levels might limit the impact, Agreste pointed out that vine development lags behind last year by one to two weeks as per the report.
Production in Bordeaux is anticipated to drop following a reduction of about 8,000 hectares in the wine-growing area under a grubbing-up strategy, compounded by poor fruit set and hail damage. In Burgundy, prevalent rains have led to aggressive mildew, likely decreasing the yield, with the adjacent Beaujolais region experiencing similar strong disease pressures.
In the Loire Valley, intense mildew pressure is expected to diminish grape production, and notably, cold and wet conditions during flowering have led to significant coulure – a condition where grape flowers don’t develop into berries. Alsace faces similar mildew problems, and a late spring frost in Provence caused substantial damage, with mildew exacerbating the situation.
Champagne experienced early-season frost and hail that slashed its production capacity, while excessive rainfall led to coulure and ideal conditions for mildew formation. In Charentes, covering the Cognac territory, damp conditions during the bloom period are anticipated to cause a ‘significant drop’ in output following a record harvest in 2023.
In contrast, Languedoc-Roussillon witnessed a successful flowering stage, though subsequent conditions varied, featuring water stress in the region’s western areas and excessive moisture in Gard towards the east, leading to ‘very virulent’ mildew outbreaks as per reports.
Meanwhile, Spain is enjoying more favorable weather conditions, especially after its winemakers faced a combination of drought and hail last year. Forecasts predict a 20% rise in production to 39.7 million hectoliters of wine and must, with a significant 33% increase in volumes reported from Castilla-La Mancha according to early estimates by Cooperatives Agro-Alimentarias released recently.