Precipitation, drought, late frost… French vineyards have suffered heavily from bad weather which has increased since spring. Enough to affect production, expected to decline by 23% over one year, a volume close to the historically low levels of 2017 and 2021.
As of November 1, the 2024 harvest was estimated at 36.9 million hectoliters, a decline of 17% compared to the average of the last five years, according to the new estimate published Friday November 8 by the Ministry of Agriculture. The latest projections, communicated in September, were a little less unfavorable since the statistics and forecasting services of the ministry were counting on a decline of 18% over one year.
All types of wines concerned
All types of wine are affected according to the ministry, particularly in Burgundy, Beaujolais and Champagne, as well as wines intended for eaux-de-vie (down 36% after an exceptional harvest in 2023). In Champagne, production would be 46% lower than last year and 31% lower than the five-year average, between a lack of sunshine, spring frosts and excess precipitation.
In Languedoc-Roussillon, the leading French wine-growing region in terms of volume, it would be 9% lower than last year, with in places a recurring drought which has weakened the vines, and elsewhere mildew, favored by significant rainfall in early summer.
The Burgundy-Beaujolais harvest would be 38% lower than the high 2023 harvest, with downy mildew causing losses particularly in Côte d'Or and excessive rainfall in Beaujolais.
Coulure, millerandage, mildew and hail
In Bordeaux, between the reduction in vineyard areas, episodes of coulure (fall of flowers and young berries), millerandage (berries that are too small), mildew and hail, the harvest is expected to drop by 12% after an already declining year in 2023.
In Alsace, it would decline by 13% due to difficult flowering and attacks of mildew. In Val de Loire, it would drop by 29%. Finally, in the South-West, the harvest should be lower than that, already reduced, of 2023, while in the South-East, it is expected to be -11%, with millerandage, late frost and mildew which mainly affected the Provence.
These figures are published at a time when representatives of farmers, including wine growers, are preparing to launch a new protest movement to defend their income.
Italy again number 1
If these forecasts are confirmed, Italy should regain from France the position of leading world producer that it had stolen from it in 2023. The Italian harvest for 2024 should in fact reach 41 million hectoliters, an increase of 7%. over one year, but down 12.5% compared to the average of the last five years, according to the estimate published at the end of September by Assoenologi and the Italian Wine Union (UIV). These figures will not be updated before March 2025, a UIV official told AFP on Friday.
The volumes “estimated figures remain far from the average of recent years, but will probably be enough to overtake France (…) and regain first place in the world. A small consolation given the complexity of the period for the sector”indicated the UIV in September, evoking a “climate problem now structural”.
The director of the UIV, Lamberto Frescobaldi, stressed Friday to AFP the “strong disparities” between regions, “like central Italy, where we produced a lot, and others in which drought or other extreme climatic events were felt”.
