A woman collects Muscat grapes during the wine harvest in southern France. Photo: AFPFrance's wine production is expected to plummet 18 percent this year after spring frost damaged vines across the country, the government said on Friday - but a hot summer is expected to yield a top vintage. To combat the frost, nervous winemakers in Bordeaux set fires in oil drums, then positioned them carefully between the rows of budding grapevines. In the five years to 2016, hail knocked out as much as 50 percent of Burgundy's harvest, according to the Global Wine Risk Index. By Nicolas GubertREAD ALSO: Meet the woman who decides which wine the French presidents drink

Source: The Local August 25, 2017 11:03 UTC