Mixed year for French wine

Overall wine output is projected to be between 44 million and 47 million hectolitres, a range that encompasses both the five-year average of 44.5 million hectolitres and 2022 output of 46.1 million hectolitres, the ministry said in a report on Tuesday.

Frequent storm showers and hot weather during May and June created the conditions for mildew disease in the Bordeaux and Southwest growing regions, meaning production forecasts are tentative for those areas, the ministry said.

With the grape harvest expected to revert to a more typical schedule after a very early start last year, harvest prospects would not become clearer until picking gets into full swing from late August, he said.

Disease losses could add to difficulties for Bordeaux producers.

Falling demand for red wines, out of fashion with younger drinkers, prompted the government to offer producers aid this year.

Persistent drought, meanwhile, was expected to lower output in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in the far south, the ministry said.

But the situation was favourable elsewhere, with the growth of grapes boosted by ideal weather during the flowering period and by rain at the start of summer, so in most wine zones, production should be above the five-year average or near it.

Output was seen surpassing the five-year average in Champagne, where frost and hail caused limited damage this year, and also in Burgundy, despite some mildew cases, the ministry added.

Reuters