Drought forces earliest harvest in French wine country

The landscape at Bordeaux’s prestigious vineyards looks the same as ever, with healthy, ripe grapes hanging from rows of green vines.

But this year in one of France’s most famous wine regions is very different from the rest of Europe.

Harvests that once started in mid-September are now earlier than ever – mid-August, thanks to severe drought and the wine industry’s adaptation to the unpredictable effects of climate change.

Paradoxically, the season of heatwaves and wildfires produced excellent grapes despite lower yields.

But achieving such a harvest requires creative changes to growing techniques, including pruning the vines differently and sometimes watering where irrigation is normally prohibited.

European producers, who have seen the effects of global warming firsthand, fear more is to come.

So far, “global warming is very positive. We have better ripeness, better balance…but if you turn to the future, if you raise the temperature one more degree, plus, you’re going to lose the wine balance the freshest part of the world”, says technical director Fabien Teitgen of Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte, an estate growing organic wine grapes in Martillac, south of Bordeaux.

Winegrowers have adjusted their practices amid a series of heatwaves, coupled with a lack of rainfall across much of Europe.

In the Bordeaux region of southwestern France, huge wildfires have destroyed large swathes of pine forests.

There was no rain from the end of June to mid-August.

As the harvest unfolded, dozens of workers knelt in the vineyard, hand-picked grapes and packed them into baskets.

The fruit is immediately crushed to make juice, which is then placed in tanks and then into barrels to begin the wine production process.

The purpose of the harvest is to produce white wines from the famous Pessac-Leognans appellation.

Red wine will come soon.

Eric Perrin, one of the owners of Chateau Carbonnieux, recalls that in his childhood, in the 1970s, the harvest started around mid-September.

This year, they start on August 16th.

But Mr Palin said the 2022 vintage could be better than ever because the grapes are healthy and balanced.

Hot, dry weather also prevents vines from contracting diseases such as mold.

The production of wine is a centuries-old tradition at the Castle of Carbonillo, and Thomas Jefferson visited the vineyard in 1787 before becoming President of the United States and planted a hickory tree that still stands in the park.

Today, French President Emmanuel Macron sometimes offers wines from Chateau Carbonnieux to esteemed hosts.

Drought has changed the way wine producers work.

In the past, vintners used to give the vines a shape that would allow the grapes to get the maximum amount of sunlight, which in turn produced more sugar, which was converted into alcohol.

This year, growers have tended to allow the leaves to protect the grapes, so the shade maintains the acidity and freshness of the fruit, Mr Teitgen explained.

In the wider region, Mr Teitgen said yields could be 15 to 20 percent lower, mainly due to smaller grapes and the fact that some were sunburned in certain regions, but this would not affect the quality of the wine.

This week, Manon Lecouffe carefully watered the newly planted vines in front of the 14th-century tower of the Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte vineyard, an indispensable job.

Year-old vines are so ingrained that they can draw water from far below ground and endure drought without much suffering.

But this year, estates have the right to water mature vines, a practice normally banned in Bordeaux.

“Some plots were hit hard by falling leaves,” Lekoff said.

Another step vintners may take is to reduce the density of their plots to reduce the need for water or to till the soil to better retain deep water.

Experts are also considering whether planting new grape varieties would help.

At Chateau Olivier, which also produces Pessac-Leognan wines, director Laurent Lebrun shows how he and his team traverse the vineyard, tasting grapes block by block to decide when and where to harvest.

Mr Lebrun said the consequences of global warming were now part of daily life for vintners, noting the speed of change.

“We need to redesign our own way of thinking,” he said.

“We still have access to many tools that are already in use in warmer regions.”

In southern Europe, harvesting also started several weeks earlier than normal to save wilted and charred grapes.

Production in some regions of Italy, Spain and Portugal is expected to fall by 10% to 20%, despite producers looking to improve quality.

The Coldiretti agricultural lobby in Italy highlighted that rising energy and raw material costs are expected to increase costs by 35%.

Scientists have long believed that human-caused climate change is making extreme weather more frequent.

Hotter air, warmer oceans and melting sea ice have altered the jet stream, making storms, floods, heat waves, droughts and wildfires more destructive, they said.

French vintners fear frosts will disrupt the growing season more frequently as warm winters cause vines to produce early buds.

Violent hailstorms can ruin a year’s work in minutes.

At Carbonnieux, Mr Perrin worries that some of the smaller producers may not be able to afford the changes.

“Climate events since 2017 have reduced harvests. Of course, not everyone has survived,” he said.