The harvest has begun earlier this year across France's wine-producing regions, with extreme temperatures due to climate change causing grapes to ripen earlier. Heatwaves and wildfires can also mean a loss of crops and land, and an increase in diseases and pests.
Grape harvests in France are starting on average three weeks earlier than in the 1980s, according to the National Institute for Agricultural, Food and Environmental Research (Inrae).
Rising temperatures – which scientists confirm are due to human-driven climate change – are accelerating vine growth, with grapes ripening earlier.
In Alsace, eastern France, the harvest has never started so early. The harvest of grapes that make the sparkling white wine crémant officially began on Tuesday – 10 days ahead of 2024, according to the Winegrowers' Association (AVA).
Harvest dates for winemakers depend on the region and the variety of grape, and adhere to a calendar fixed by the National Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO).
Nationwide trend
In Champagne, in eastern France, the grape harvest officially started last Wednesday.
David Chatillon, co-president of the Champagne Committee said that although the harvest was early due to the intense heat of recent weeks, he was expecting "a very good vintage" this year.
"The vineyard is in remarkable condition, which allows us to approach this harvest with confidence and serenity," the committee's press release said.
Early harvests are now being seen across all of France's wine-growing regions.
Bordeaux saw the first pruning last Monday in plots dedicated to crémant, according to the Bordeaux Wine Interprofessional Council (CIVB).
The harvest is expected to be around 10 September for other white and red wines – which make up 85 percent of production.
The harvest now begins "10 or 15 days" earlier than it did 40 years ago due to climate change, according to the interprofessional association.
In Saint-Emilion, near Bordeaux, the harvest has begun around 15 September since 2010, instead of 26 September as seen in most of the 20th century, according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
As temperatures climb, is the future of French wine in England?
Vine cycle affected
At the Beaunes grape harvest in Burgundy, in recent years Pinot Noir has begun on the 6 September on average.
However, from the end of the Middle Ages up to 1988, this harvest usually took place around 27 September, according to a study that compiled data going back to 1354, cited by Le Monde newspaper.
This database has become a historical indicator of climate change, also cited in the sixth report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Hervé Quénol, a research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) told Franceinfo that, in reality, "it is the entire cycle of the vine that is earlier, from the budding [the opening of the buds] which occurs earlier and earlier in the spring, and therefore makes it more vulnerable to the frosts of late winter".
Climate change helps France's Beaujolais wine find its sweet spot
Maximum daily temperatures during the grape growing season have increased by around 3C since 1980, according to an Inrae study published in May.
This phenomenon means grapes are gaining in alcohol content (the sugar content that will become alcohol) and acidity.
In Languedoc, for example, wines have had an average alcohol content of nearly 14 percent since 2015, compared to 11 percent in the 1980s, according to Inrae.
Loss of crops
Climate change caused by carbon emissions from fossil fuels has been linked to an increase in extreme weather events including intense heat, drought and heavy rains, which can destroy crops and even plots of land, particularly due to erosion, Inrae notes.
Production drops can be drastic – up to 50 percent in the Hérault and Gard departments in southern France in 2019, for example, when grapes were burned by a heatwave.
Dilemma for French winemakers as alcohol content rises while consumption falls
Heat also brings an increase in vine diseases and pests, due to humidity. This was the case in Gironde, southwest France, in 2020, when mildew attacked Bordeaux vineyards, which had been flooded by heavy rains in May.
More frequent and larger wildfires also directly affect vines, as seen in early August when several hundred hectares burned in Aude, in the south of France.
According to a study published in 2024 in the journal Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, if global warming exceeds +2C compared to the pre-industrial era, 90 percent of coastal and lowland wine regions in southern Europe could be unable to produce quality wine at economically sustainable yields by the end of the century.
(with newswires)
