Key facts
- French wine production is forecast to fall below 3.4 billion liters this year.
- Severe drought and repeated heat waves have battered vineyards across France.
- The Champagne region is the worst affected, with output expected to be halved.
- The sub-3.4 billion-liter crop would be France's smallest since 1957.
- Maize losses are estimated at 40% in France due to the summer weather.
France's wine production is expected to fall below 3.4 billion liters this year as drought and heat waves battered vineyards, with the Champagne region worst affected, according to French government estimates. The brutal summer weather pulled harvests dramatically forward, with most vineyards beginning picking in August after exceptionally high temperatures accelerated ripening. Soil drought intensified across the country, while heat waves caused sunscald, burns, defoliation, and grape shriveling in some vineyards. In Champagne, growers reaped their earliest harvest on record, with output expected to be roughly halved and grape bunch weights at their lowest in 20 years. In contrast, production in southern France’s Languedoc-Roussillon wine region is forecast to rebound 5 percent from last year, though still 8 percent below average. If confirmed, the sub-3.4 billion-liter crop would be France’s smallest since 1957. Maize losses are estimated at 50 to 70 percent in Slovenia, 40 percent in France, and 20 to 25 percent in Italy. French Environment Minister Monique Barbut put the summer’s economic damage at €10 billion to €15 billion, or as much as 0.5 percent of GDP. Paris unveiled more than €1 billion in emergency farm aid.