Vintners in no mood to toast on bad harvest
Source: Agencies |
October 18, 2012, Thursday
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DROUGHT, frost and hail have combined to ravage Europe's wine grape harvest, which in key regions this year will be the smallest in half a century, vintners said yesterday.
Thierry Coste, an expert with the European Union farmers' union, said France's grape harvest may slump by almost 20 percent compared with last year. Italy's grape crop fell 7 percent - on top of a decline in 2011.
"Two big producing nations, France and Italy, have not known a harvest so weak in 40-50 years," Coste said. "All the major producing nations have been hurt."
France's Champagne and Burgundy regions were hard hit by weather conditions that particularly affected the prevalent Chardonnay grape, used to make the world's most famous sparkling wine and the luxurious whites from those regions.
In places where vintners were already facing a small margin of profit, many may find it hard to survive, said Coste of the Copa-Cogeca union.
"In certain regions, there will be many vintners in big difficulties because of the collapse of the harvest," he said.
The European wine harvest automatically has a global impact since it accounts for some 62 percent of the worldwide wine production.
In Europe, about 2.5 million families live off the wine sector. It makes the dependency on the vagaries of weather a sometimes cruel business.
Drought hit the Mediterranean rim hard this year, Coste said.
"First and foremost, climate change or not, we see that we have ever more dry spells," he said. Making matters worse is that even winter was dry this time. "It was almost zero (degrees Celsius) in the south."
In the northern wine regions, it was the inverse, with cold and wet weather wreaking havoc.
"Natural phenomena happened all at the same time to make sure the harvest is so small," Coste said.
French data showed that in Champagne the harvest may fall by 40 percent, with Bourgogne Beaujolais seen to drop 30 percent.
Thierry Coste, an expert with the European Union farmers' union, said France's grape harvest may slump by almost 20 percent compared with last year. Italy's grape crop fell 7 percent - on top of a decline in 2011.
"Two big producing nations, France and Italy, have not known a harvest so weak in 40-50 years," Coste said. "All the major producing nations have been hurt."
France's Champagne and Burgundy regions were hard hit by weather conditions that particularly affected the prevalent Chardonnay grape, used to make the world's most famous sparkling wine and the luxurious whites from those regions.
In places where vintners were already facing a small margin of profit, many may find it hard to survive, said Coste of the Copa-Cogeca union.
"In certain regions, there will be many vintners in big difficulties because of the collapse of the harvest," he said.
The European wine harvest automatically has a global impact since it accounts for some 62 percent of the worldwide wine production.
In Europe, about 2.5 million families live off the wine sector. It makes the dependency on the vagaries of weather a sometimes cruel business.
Drought hit the Mediterranean rim hard this year, Coste said.
"First and foremost, climate change or not, we see that we have ever more dry spells," he said. Making matters worse is that even winter was dry this time. "It was almost zero (degrees Celsius) in the south."
In the northern wine regions, it was the inverse, with cold and wet weather wreaking havoc.
"Natural phenomena happened all at the same time to make sure the harvest is so small," Coste said.
French data showed that in Champagne the harvest may fall by 40 percent, with Bourgogne Beaujolais seen to drop 30 percent.
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