Fears already emerging over 2023 Alsace harvest

t the end of March, bud burst was already occurring over the 15,528 hectares under vine across Alsace. Initial observations by industry members are mixed. Hot, dry weather in 2022 had an impact on the ability of vines to store reserves. “Vines suffered. The mixed plantings are stunted. There are fewer canes. Water resources are low”, commented Gilles Ehrhart, chairman of the Alsace winegrowers’ association (AVA). “Decline in vigour is widespread. The most serious situations involve vineyards less than ten years old on 3309C stock and Gravesac, especially if they are located in the lighter soils of the Châtenois-Scherwiller area, around Colmar and farther South on Bollenberg hill. In many places, pruning was challenging”, adds Frédéric Schwaerzler, viticulture technician at the chamber of agriculture. In practice, many vineyards were pruned on a single rod with the number of eyes severely curtailed.

“The crop could be low if it doesn’t rain”, warns Ehrhart. The region has yet to get to that stage but the prospect of a small harvest is already making the industry wince, because for the past two years it has been producing less than it has been selling. In 2021 and 2022, output stood at 786,017 hl and 911,094 hl whereas sales in 2022 were up 1% in a year to 971,649 hl, divided between 712,827 hl (+4%) in mainland France and 258,641 hl (-6.2%) in export sales. Crémant alone soared by 9.5% to establish a new all-time high at 281,778 hl. January and February confirmed these trends. “This level of sales combined with management of yields by variety have brought our inventories back down to an acceptable level. With the increase in input costs, we now have to improve our price points to safeguard our ability to invest and to pass on our properties”, summed up the chairman of the AVA.