The current harvest shows historically poor yields in France

For France's winemakers, the current harvest shows historically poor yields after a period of frost in spring. As the Ministry of Agriculture announced in Paris, these could be 27 percent lower than in the previous year and 22 percent lower than the average for the past five years. With an expected 34.4 million hectoliters, the harvest would be at the level of 1977 and would be even worse than the 1991 and 2017 harvests, which were also affected by frost, it said. Moisture in summer also favored pest infestation on the vines, at the same time dry periods made problems for winegrowers in the Mediterranean area. France is the second most important wine producing country after Italy. All wine-growing regions are affected by the drop in yield, but to different degrees. For the Bourgogne-Beaujolais region 51 percent lower yields are expected, in the Loire Valley minus 38 percent, for the Bordeaux winegrowers minus 25 percent and in the Champagne 28 percent less. The winegrowers in Alsace on the border with Baden-Württemberg are hit by a comparatively milder prospect with a 12 percent lower yield. However, the poor harvest forecasts are not the only concern of French winemakers. There are delivery delays and rising prices for bottles, wine boxes and cartons, reported suppliers on the Vitisphere industry platform. Recruiting harvest workers is also more difficult this year than usual, and skilled workers are difficult to find. For example, an agricultural school had to postpone the training course for winemaking tractor drivers due to a lack of candidates. In the meantime, the French Viticulture Institute has devoted a recently presented study to the orientation of viticulture in the face of climate change. One of the recommendations is that winemakers adapt their production and water use based on better regional climate data. It is also advised to cultivate more climate-resistant vines and to take steps to make viticulture as climate-neutral as possible.