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BORDEAUX

Bordeaux vineyards set to produce ‘rare’ vintage

It was another poor harvest this year for that most famous of French wines, but Bordeaux enthusiasts can celebrate a "rare" vintage blessed by an abundance of autumn sun, local producers say.

Bordeaux vineyards set to produce 'rare' vintage
Bordeaux's 2014 wines are set to be a rare vintage. Photo: AFP

With production estimated at between 5.2 and 5.4 million hectolitres, 2014 has proved another low-volume year in the southwestern area, but still better than the historic lows of 2013 when hailstorms helped ruin much of the crop.

At 3.8 million hectolitres, the 2013 harvest was the lowest since 1991.

According to Bernard Farges, president of the local committee for wine growers and traders, that harvest — coupled with the "lowest stocks in 15 years in Bordeaux" — left them struggling to compete in the fierce battle for market share.

Those losses have so far only been felt with wines that come quickly to market — such as the roses and Cotes de Bordeaux — but will continue to be felt through 2015 as wines that take longer to mature become ready to sell.

"If there had been a 2014 harvest as bad as 2013, it would have been catastrophic for all the wine network, not just producers but also traders and all those in the network," said Farges.

He added the "perfect harvest conditions" meant 2014 would be remembered as a "happy harvest".

Temperatures were 2.2 degrees higher than average in September and 2.6 degrees higher in October — the highest in over 20 years.

"All the wines have benefited," he said, adding that such a vintage "was very rare."

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FARMING

Cold snap ‘could slash French wine harvest by 30 percent’

A rare cold snap that froze vineyards across much of France this month could see harvest yields drop by around a third this year, France's national agriculture observatory said on Thursday.

Cold snap 'could slash French wine harvest by 30 percent'
A winemaker checks whether there is life in the buds of his vineyard in Le Landreau, near Nantes in western France, on April 12th, following several nights of frost. Photo: Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP

Winemakers were forced to light fires and candles among their vines as nighttime temperatures plunged after weeks of unseasonably warm weather that had spurred early budding.

Scores of vulnerable fruit and vegetable orchards were also hit in what Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie called “probably the greatest agricultural catastrophe of the beginning of the 21st century.”

IN PICTURES: French vineyards ablaze in bid to ward off frosts

The government has promised more than €1 billion in aid for destroyed grapes and other crops.

Based on reported losses so far, the damage could result in up to 15 million fewer hectolitres of wine, a drop of 28 to 30 percent from the average yields over the past five years, the FranceAgriMer agency said.

That would represent €1.5 to €2 billion of lost revenue for the sector, Ygor Gibelind, head of the agency’s wine division, said by videoconference.

It would also roughly coincide with the tally from France’s FNSEA agriculture union.

Prime Minister Jean Castex vowed during a visit to damaged fields in southern France last Saturday that the emergency aid would be made available in the coming days to help farmers cope with the “exceptional situation.”

READ ALSO: ‘We’ve lost at least 70,000 bottles’ – French winemakers count the cost of late frosts

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