It appears this year's French wine harvest,
as predicted,
is the worst in over 70 years.
Spring frosts decimated vineyards,
(twice this past April)
causing the harvest to be 18% lower than 2016
which was the lowest in decades.
And not just in France.
Austria, Germany, Hungary and Switzerland
were also hit hard.
The losses have varied anywhere from 25 to 90 percent
despite some vineyards employing old-fashioned 'smudge pot' techniques
using fires in oil drums and fans to hinder the damaging cold on the vines.
Climate change is also a challenge to this business.
One article suggests that global warming will cause
grapes to ripen earlier causing low quality wines and higher alcohol content
(which the French I know do not care for.)
But the article also stated
that while this year's grape harvest quantity will be down,
the effect of the warm, dry summer weather
means the quality will be high.
So at least there's that!
May want to stock up on your favorite French wines
in case of price hikes.
While I'm a fan of American (specifically California) reds,
I'm not partial to the French reds.
And just the opposite with whites.
I love French whites but not so much American whites.
It will be interesting to see how the French,
in all their brainstorming on how to deal with their challenges,
will end up handling climate change
and how the business, and the wines, will change.
à Votre Santé.
(Photos copyright: Kirsten Steen
Info via articles in The Guardian and The Daily Meal.)
