“Freak years will be those without adverse weather” in vineyards

his year’s spring frosts put France’s wine regions on alert at the beginning of April and brought the industry’s need to anticipate and cope with climate back to the top of the agenda. “The series of frost episodes shows that these are not isolated, one-off weather incidents over a decade”, stressed Jean-Marie Fabre, chairman of the French independent winegrowers’ organisation at the federation's national meetings on 6 April in Gaillac. The bout of frost at the beginning of April seems to have only affected early-ripening vineyards locally and will cause less damage overall than the frost that had such tragic consequences for the 2021 vintage: “Vine physiology was not the same. But we are not out of the woods until the Ice Saints [Ed. mid-May] have passed...” claimed Fabre.

The government has announced it will reintroduce a support plan for farmers affected by frost “in the event of significant losses”, but for the chairman of French independent winegrowers, climate change requires a paradigm shift in mentalities. “I am convinced that weather hazards (frost, hail, excess and lack of water) will become increasingly frequent. Freak years will no longer be those where there is adverse weather, but rather those without adverse weather”, pointed out the Fitou winegrower, for whom “we must no longer respond with one-off support, but anticipate and provide the resources to face the issues, with the means to combat them. They are not 100% effective, but they will be better than any compensation measure” for wine production.

In addition to improving physical protection systems, the French administration must also complete the overhaul of the Comprehensive Weather Insurance (MRC) contract, said Fabre. “Reforming crop insurance without reviewing the Marrakech agreements and changing the way the Olympic average is calculated will not be effective. We must go further and faster, and we must not create insurance policies to ease our conscience, but to be effective”.