(Paris) The 2022 harvest, which has already started in the Hérault or in Haute-Corse, promises to be early once again, placed under the sign of a historic drought which could undermine the potential of a promising vintage.
Posted at 11:27
In many wine-growing areas of the country, the high temperatures are accelerating the ripening of the grapes and forcing the harvest to be brought forward by one to three weeks, some Languedoc-Roussillon winegrowers having given the first blows of the pruning shears at the end of July.
François Capdellayre, president of the Dom Brial cooperative cellar in Baixas (Pyrénées-Orientales), had to take out his tools on August 3 in a hurry.
“We were all a little surprised, the maturity has evolved very quickly over the last few days”, admits the winemaker, who started on August 3 with Muscat, followed by Chardonnay and Grenache Blanc.
“In more than 30 years, I have never started my harvest on August 9”, is also surprised Jérôme Despey, winemaker in Hérault and general secretary of the agricultural union FNSEA.
The heat wave also accentuated the effects of the current exceptional drought: even if it is resistant, able to draw water with its deep roots, the vine is suffering even in regions such as the Center or the Val-de-Loire.
When it lacks water, it dries out, becomes blocked: “water stress” causes it to lose its leaves and it stops feeding its clusters and berries, which shrink in size.
When the temperature also exceeds 38 degrees, the grapes “burn, they are dry, they lose volume and quality”, the heat raising the degree of alcohol to a level “too high for consumers”, explains Pierre Champetier, president of the IGP of Ardèche.
This winegrower has already started his harvest on Monday, when “40 years ago, we harvested around September 20”, he chokes, regretting that global warming makes this earliness “normal”.
Quality vintage
The dates have not yet been fixed everywhere, and certain grapes, such as those for the red wines of the Hérault, should be harvested as usual at the beginning of September. The situation can change from one day to another depending on the rain, preserving the hope of good harvests.
In Burgundy, the earliness record of August 16, 2020 – which had itself beaten that dating back to 1556 – should not be exceeded in Beaune. The first cellars, those of Saône-et-Loire, plan to start around August 25.
In the Rhône Valley, the heat wave “caused an advance in maturity of more than 20 days compared to last year”, indicates the Inter-Rhône interprofession, which however ensures that the quality of the wine will be there. .
The same hope for the Champagne Committee (CIVC), which plans to start in the last ten days of August and shows its confidence in the quality of the vintage, the losses due to frosts and hail having only dented 9% of the potential. of harvest.
The first secateurs for the Crémants de Bordeaux will be given on August 17th. This production, almost confidential in Bordeaux where it represents 1% of wine production, traditionally opens the ball in the region.
Will follow at the end of the month “the dry whites, the sweet whites and finally the red”, lists Christophe Château of the Bordeaux Wine Interprofessional Council (CIVB), with a date which should be able to be fixed “next week”.
In Alsace, where it has not rained “a drop for two months”, “we will have a very, very small harvest”, regrets Gilles Ehrhart, president of the association of winegrowers of Alsace (AVA), which plans to kick off around August 26.
Waiting for the storm
At 1er August, the statistical service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agreste, estimated 2022 production at between 42.6 and 45.6 million hectoliters – up 13 to 21% compared to the weak 2021 harvest, marked by a disastrous spring frost.
This first assessment, close to the five-year average, remains “to be refined” with the drought, warns Agreste.
Year after year, winegrowers suffer the jolts of climate change: hail in June destroyed 15% of the Charentes’ wine-growing areas, according to Agreste, and frost caused losses of up to “40%” on certain parcels in Alsace.
Thanks to irrigation, developed on around 10% of the wine-growing areas in France, some vineyards have fortunately “not had a water shock”, such as that of the Costières de Nîmes, welcomes Aurélie Pujol, director of the AOC.
Small relief, in Alsace: the grapes should be “very healthy, without rot”, underlines the association of winegrowers.
Quite the opposite of last year when rain and mildew ruined the season, says Pascal Doquet, president of the association of organic champagnes.
For the later varieties (grenache, cabernet), there is still the hope of having rain to make the grapes fat. Storms are expected this weekend all over France, but it will surely be “not enough” to preserve the “pretty vintage”, fears the CIVB.