Past Saints de Glace, let's come back to one of the vine's worst enemies!

The vines are of course used to being tormented by frost, but this year has been particularly cruel and has bitten up to 80% of the French vineyard when it was particularly vulnerable.

With this little weekly post, Bonnet & Associés takes stock of the possible effects of this frost period on production that devices such as candles and braziers have unfortunately struggled to contain.

The champagne

The frost nights in early April seem to have destroyed between a quarter to a third of the next harvest in this region, with the Aube reportedly being much more affected as well as the less resistant Chardonnay-based vineyards.

This vineyard remains generally serene thanks to its individual reserve, one of the specificity of this wine region.

Burgundy

An episode "never seen for 30 years" according to some winegrowers. Chardonnays seem to be hard hit compared to Pinots and Gamays for which doubts persist. The Chablis vineyard is therefore necessarily the most affected, while for the C?te d′Or, the C?tes de Beaune and Nuits or the C?te de Beaune, the loss of production of the exposed plots is estimated at more than 30%. The Maconnais is not to be outdone on the beautiful hillside plots.

From Bordeaux to Irouléguy

The last released figures of the consequences of frost on the Gironde vineyards shows a very great heterogeneity. In Bordeaux, except in Graves and Sauternes, most of the back buds had not emerged, which may give hope for a good reaction from the vines in June and less harmful consequences on production than in 2017.

Beyond that, in the South-West, several plots are unfortunately destroyed up to 80% as in Gaillac or Plaimont, while the vines near Bergerac or Juran?on are doing better (-10%).

Loire Valley

Despite the mobilization of all possible means (wind turbines in particular) of the Loire winegrowers, the damage is substantial in many vineyards. Almost 95% of the vineyard areas seem to have been affected and, depending on how early the pruning of the vine is, a vineyard can face a frost rate ranging from 50% to 100%. For the moment, the loss is estimated at a maximum of 30% on average in this vineyard, knowing that the development of the flower in June could bring its share of good surprises.

The Rh?ne and the South

In Hérault or Gard, the damage is estimated at 35%, with peaks of 70% in Saint-Chinian or Pic-Saint-Loup. In the Rh?ne, the most affected appellations remain the Cairanne and Gigondas in the South or Condrieu and C?te-R?tie in the North, where production is estimated to be over 60% lost. Provence, Aude, Pyrénées Orientales and Corsica can also expect a small harvest, down 30% on average. In this region with multiple grape varieties, concerns are especially present for the future harvest of Chardonnay, Viognier, Colombard, and Cabernet-Sauvignon in the early zones. Indeed, unlike the reds, the white grape varieties (and Chardonnay in particular) produce very few secondary buds unlike red grape varieties such as Grenache, Merlot or Cinsault, which produce more.

Our B&A team support goes to all the women and men, winegrowers, whose vineyards have been hit hard by these bad weather conditions. We would like to remind them, with humility, to never stop to ...

"Attempt, Try, even Fail sometimes.. it will be your success" (Jacques Brel)