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months of almost continuous rain threaten to ruin large
parts of the French wine harvest this year, especially
in Bordeaux. Some small vineyards have already lost
their entire crop to a form of mildew, reports The Independent,
UK.
"It is many years since we have seen conditions
like this, with warmth and humidity at the same time,"
said Olivier Rostang, a wine-making consultant in the
Rhône valley. "The mildew is biting hard,
attacking the leaves of the vines, and worse, in some
cases, the grapes. We are fighting for the 2007 vintage."
Didier Michaud, a small wine producer in Médoc,
north of Bordeaux, said: "I will have no wine this
year. The mildew has attacked all my vines. There is
just one small patch where the grapes have not yet fallen
off. I have no illusions. It is only a matter of time."
Bordeaux, where the rain has hardly paused since early
May, is the worst afflicted region. Problems have also
been reported in Champagne, Beaujolais, the Loire and
the Rhône valley.
It may be a calamity for the worst-hit growers but
not necessarily so for the ailing French wine industry.
A much reduced 2007 wine harvest might help to push
up wholesale wine prices, which have been depressed
by a glut of cheap wine..
Huge unsold stocks of table wine, and even the cheaper
Appellation Contrôlée wines, remain from
2006 and 2005.
The quality of the 2007 vintage is still uncertain.
A warm and dry late summer could still produce excellent
wines.
Vine mildew is a fungus borne on the wind in damp
conditions. It produces brown blotches on the leaves
before spreading to, and rotting, the young grapes.
There are preventative remedies and controls but they
are frowned upon by the organic wine producers who have
thus been the worst hit.
The ground has become so damp that it is impossible,
or ill-advised, to drive heavy machinery into the vineyards.
Spraying with anti-mildew products, such as "Bordeaux
mixture" (copper sulphate and lime) has had to
be carried out by hand. The rain has often washed the
protective coating away.
Full report at http://news.independent.co.uk
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