According to the latest reports, one of the largest export industries from France is finding itself facing a huge problem. The industry has reported that it is currently facing a devastating blow, which is not due to some artificial or technological causes but due to the weather.
The particular industry currently facing one of the harshest of situations is the winemaking industry. The industry higher-ups have reported that in the first half of the month of April, their vineyards were hit hard by the weather. According to reports, France faced one of the most devastating and freezing weather in the last 30 years.
The country reported one of the frostiest days during the first half of April, leaving the vineyards in France completely destroyed. For the winemakers in France, the situation could not get any worse. The country is already facing a bad time due to the pandemic and then it had the US tariffs making the situation even worse.
The winemaking sector in France has reported that due to the frost, more than 80% of their vineyards have been rendered useless. The areas impacted by the frost were responsible for making the most amount of wine for the country’s export business.
The information related to the loss of the vineyards due to the frost was provided by Wine Companies’ European Committee on Wednesday, April 21, 2021. The committee has stated that as a result of the recent disaster, the industry will end up facing significant yield loss.
The committee has speculated that the range for the yield loss they have set is around 30% to 60%, for some of the regions. The committee has revealed the names of some of the most prominent areas that have incurred huge losses.
The names of these regions are the Loire Valley, Provence, Champagne, Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Rhone Valley.
The president of the Rhone region’s wine-growing area, Anne Colombo stated that they are currently visiting the fields and the situation is even direr than what they have reported so far.
According to Colombo, many regions they visited have an extremely low amount of grapes left due to the frost. The frost rate the country has experienced this month is the worst the country has faced in the past 30 years.
Colombo stated that the winemakers tried their best to keep their vineyards out of frost situation. The winemakers literally went ahead and started lighting braziers as well as candles in order to keep the temperature up at the vineyards.
However, they were unable to save their vineyards from the frost and all their efforts were in vain. Colombo stated that as a result of the frost, they have lost a lot of harvests that could have added a huge share in the harvest percentage.