Drought already a challenge for this year’s French wine harvest

urprisingly, the only French wine region not affected by drought is Languedoc in the South. The 200 to 400 mm of rain that has fallen on the rolling Aude and Hérault countryside since January has significantly replenished water resources.

“Rainfall has been continuous but not too intense. Water has penetrated the soils well”, explains Matthieu Chazalon, a consultant engineer for the Wine Research & Development Company (SRDV). Chazalon commented that budburst was very consistent and that clusters had been emerging thick and fast, from Pyrénées-Orientales to western Gard, where vines are nearing flowering in the early-ripening areas and grape varieties.

“The situation is more complicated in the southern Côtes-du-Rhône, where 85 mm of rain have fallen since the beginning of the year around Orange, and barely 70 mm in certain parts of Provence and Corsica”. This follows on from an already very dry winter in South-East France, depriving the vines of water reserves. “In spite of tillage carried out by winegrowers to limit competition for water, the canes are growing at a slower rate. We can see a risk of bonsai vines like last year if it doesn’t rain at the end of the month”, warns Chazalon.

As he goes on to point out, lack of water will have consequences for the 2023 vintage in dry-farmed vineyards. “Poor flower induction will reduce the number of bunches and the size of the berries. This could be a problem in blocks earmarked for producing white or rosé wines”, he predicted.