Knocked off course by a cold spring snap, French wine production from Bordeaux to Alsace has dropped dramatically this year and could hit “a historic low”, according to the agriculture ministry. As such, the traditional August to October harvest of the world’s second largest wine producer “could be historically low and inferior to that of 1991, which was also hit by severe frost”. “At the moment, the weather conditions are not at all bad,” he said, but admitted the quantity of wine production “will be economically very tight, that’s for sure”. “For instance 2016 was a huge vintage - that will allow some regions to manage their volumes and quality,” said Faure-Brac. But not all wine regions practise the same system, and only about 25% of French winegrowers have insured against severe weather.

Source: The Guardian July 23, 2017 04:30 UTC