According to agricultural authority, FranceAgriMer, we are expecting to produce over 6 billion bottles (approx. 46 million hectoliters) of wine in France this year. Jerome Despey, head of FranceAgriMer’s wine division, says;
“After two years of excessively low harvests, we’re getting somewhat back to normal … We see good prospects at the start of this harvest.”
Last year and the year before, in France, we had record-breakingly poor yields, due to cooler temperatures and generally inclement weather. Excessive rains and hail storms almost completely destroyed entire harvests in Burgundy and Bordeaux, for example. Last year, Bordeaux saw a 27 percent drop in bottles produced, compared to 2012, when crops were already much lower than in previous years.
The good news is that this year, Bordeaux is expecting something more akin to a normal harvest, with at least a 50 percent increase predicted. Chateau Baudic owner, Gavin Quinney has said that he is expecting around 5 million hectoliters of wine to be produced this year in the Bordeaux region alone. If he is correct, this would be a welcome return to form, not least from a quality standpoint; Quinney has also expressed his concerns that wine produced in the region in the past two years has been of a less than ideal standard.
Other experts are confident that despite the unseasonal weather we’ve been having this month, crops will nevertheless be of a high enough quality and volume to ensure that the châteaux will produce enough wine to be able to keep bottle prices competitive with international producers.
Santé!