As the 2008 harvest begins in the vineyards, Viniflhor estimates the French yield at 43,6 million hectolitres to be one of the smallest in recent history.
This September the more the wine growers look to the sky, the more worried they get. Indeed, after a wet Spring and Summer, the Indian Summer many had hoped for is not to be. Just as it wasn't in 2007. Furthermore, the weather forecast for the coming days is not promising...
This year, rain stole the show instead of the sun. This was all too apparent yesterday at Château Haut-Brion, first classified growth of Pessac-Léognan in the suburbs of Bordeaux, where 40 pickers waited all morning for the rain to stop. It never did, and not a single bunch of Sauvignon blanc was harvested. Even though sun had been forecast...
On the spot experts notice the number of bunches diminishing (victim to mildew) and, as time goes on, the yield estimates plummet. Yesterday Viniflhor (ex Onivins), national office for the wine industry, announced an estimate of 43,6 million hectolitres for the total French production. On the 1st of August, the Ministry of Agriculture's statistics department had put the estimate at 46 million...
Lowest yield since 1991 : If these 43,6 million hl are confirmed, France will record it's smallest harvest since 1991, year of the killer frost which froze the young shoots in April on thousands of vines along the Atlantic coast. That year only 42,6 million hl went into the fermentation vats.
The regional vineyards are no exception to this phenomenon. In the Charentes area the yield is expected to reach 6,6 million hl, only slightly above last year's already historically low yield. "Much more important than volume is the degree of sugar hence potential alcohol content for the production of Cognac. 8,9 or 10? Impossible to predict yet as the harvest will begin in October. Unfortunately this close, wet weather favours the developement of mildew," explains a technician.
In Gironde, the yield predicted is approximately 5,3 million hl, the lowest since 1991. It's a similar story for other production areas such as the Dordogne, Lot-et-Garonne and Midi-Pyrénées. This volume analysis cannot of course predict the level of quality for this vintage, even though it is certain that it will not be a superb one, far from that...
Tension rises over prices : Many quality criterion can yet come into play : the weather in the next few weeks, selective harvesting, selection between the different wines, the producers technical savoir-faire...Tasting only will tell....
The effect on the prices however, is already being felt : wholesale transactions for white wine in bulk are on the increase. "As for the reds, it's like a game of cat and mouse between merchants and growers", says a professional.
Regarding consumers, it is feared that prices will rise in the next few months, despite fierce competition amongst distributors, due to higher production costs (for low volumes, as in 2007) and to the fact that these last two vintages have been extremely expensive in terms of work and treatment in the vineyard : frequent spraying to save the harvest with increasingly expensive products, higher gasoline and bottle glass prices.....
Far from a barrel of laughs for French wine growers.
César Compadre
doc@sudouest.com
S.O. 10/09/08
Translated by Maxine Colas.