Early Harvests and Climate Change: France's Wine Industry Braces for Impact

Strategic Insights -

Rising temperatures due to climate change are causing grapes to ripen earlier in France's wine-producing regions, with the harvest beginning on average three weeks earlier than in the 1980s. The extreme heat can also lead to a loss of crops and land, as well as an increase in diseases and pests. In Alsace, the harvest of grapes that make the sparkling white wine crémant officially began on Tuesday, 10 days ahead of 2024, according to the Winegrowers' Association. The nationwide trend is being seen across all of France's wine-growing regions, with Bordeaux seeing the first pruning last Monday in plots dedicated to crémant.

Key Takeaways:

  • The harvest in Alsace has never started so early, with the crémant harvest beginning 10 days ahead of 2024.
  • Grape harvests in France are starting on average three weeks earlier than in the 1980s.
  • The entire cycle of the vine is being affected, with budding occurring earlier and making the vine more vulnerable to frosts.
  • Maximum daily temperatures during the grape growing season have increased by around 3C since 1980.
  • Wines have had an average alcohol content of nearly 14 percent since 2015, compared to 11 percent in the 1980s.
  • Climate change caused by human-driven activities has been linked to an increase in extreme weather events, including intense heat, drought, and heavy rains, which can destroy crops and plots of land.
  • Production drops can be drastic, with up to 50 percent in the Hérault and Gard departments in southern France in 2019.
  • Heat also brings an increase in vine diseases and pests, due to humidity.
  • A study published in 2024 in the journal Nature Reviews Earth and Environment found that if global warming exceeds +2C, 90 percent of coastal and lowland wine regions in southern Europe could be unable to produce quality wine at economically sustainable yields by the end of the century.

Statistics:

  • The harvest in Alsace is beginning 10 days ahead of 2024.
  • Grape harvests in France are starting on average three weeks earlier than in the 1980s.
  • Maximum daily temperatures during the grape growing season have increased by around 3C since 1980.
  • Wines have had an average alcohol content of nearly 14 percent since 2015, compared to 11 percent in the 1980s.
  • Up to 50 percent of production can be lost due to extreme weather events, such as intense heat, drought, and heavy rains.

Sources:

  • The National Institute for Agricultural, Food and Environmental Research (Inrae)
  • The Winegrowers' Association (AVA)
  • The National Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO)
  • The Champagne Committee
  • The Bordeaux Wine Interprofessional Council (CIVB)
  • The Ministry of Ecological Transition
  • Le Monde newspaper
  • Franceinfo
  • Inrae study published in May
  • Study published in 2024 in the journal Nature Reviews Earth and Environment
  • Radio France Internationale (RFI)