• POURQUOI LE RETOUR DES GELÉES TARDIVES?

    par | Mai 16, 2017

    By ANDREW JEFFORD | DECANTER Newsletter | May 15, 2017

    Le journaliste britannique Andrew Jefford installé en France depuis une dizaine d’années, revient sur ce qu’il pense être les différentes causes du retour du gel tardif en Europe.

    It’s only May, but it seems likely that we already know the headline story of 2017 for French vineyards, and to a lesser extent for those elsewhere in Europe, too, the UK included.  It’s one of savage spring frosts coming after a generally mild early spring, with almost no region in France unaffected, while some regions (notably Bordeaux) have experienced the worst frosts for a quarter century.

    The exact extent of the damage will become clear over the next month as flowering takes place in the vineyards.   May and June’s own weather patterns, too, will have an impact on the recovery potential of the vines.  Frost is almost as unfair as hail, with some vineyards being totally destroyed while others not far away, or a little higher up a slope, escape unscathed.  But estimates in Bordeaux, Cognac, the Loire, Champagne and Alsace suggest potential losses of between one quarter and one half of the potential crop, and with both Burgundy and the Languedoc sustaining significant damage, too.  Entire appellations have been affected.  Only 10 per cent of he 2017 Savennières crop is reported to have survived the April frosts.

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  • GEL : TOUS TOUCHÉS

    par | Avr 27, 2017

    D’après e-Vitisphère, à partir du 25 avril 2017

    Avec une intensité et une ampleur géographique inédites, les épisodes de gel de la fin avril ont touché l’ensemble des régions viticoles françaises et européennes. Certaines sont endommagées sur les feuilles et les bourgeons développés précocement, d’autres sont ravagées entièrement. Et les gels nocturnes sont peut-être encore à redouter jusqu’au 15 mai.

    carte france gel

    Réchauffement climatique ? L’une des idées reçues prédominantes est que les masses glaciaires fondant aux pôles viennent refroidir le Gulf Stream qui refroidit à son tour les régions continentales qu’il était censé tempérer.
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  • LE 2013 DÉJÀ CONDAMNÉ ?

    par | Août 10, 2013

    D’après 20 MINUTES — 8 août 2013, 17h28

    Les orages et la grêle ont gâché les récoltes en Bourgogne, en Pays de Loire et dans le Bordelais. Olivier Thiénot (photo), directeur de l’École du Vin, prédit que ces dégâts ne riment pas forcément avec hausses de prix.

    2013 va-t-il être une année catastrophe pour le vin français ?
    Dans les régions où les vignobles sont sensibles aux effets météo, les dégâts sont importants. Ce n’est pas nouveau mais plus intense que lors d’autres années. Il y aurait environ 37.000 hectares touchés sur les 900.000 que compte la France. Le millésime 2013 ne sera pas bon. En Bourgogne, ce sera la troisième mauvaise année de suite : en 2011, l’été a été frais et la récolte moyenne, et en 2012, il y a eu de la pluie. En 2014-2015 on boira davantage de vins du sud ! (suite…)

  • CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS WINE PRODUCTION WORLDWIDE

    par | Mar 26, 2013

    By Agence France-Presse Tuesday, March 26, 2013 8:01 EDT

    It’s circa 2050 and shoppers are stopping off at Ikea to buy fine wine made in Sweden.  A Nordic fantasy?
    Not according to climate experts who say the Earth’s warming phase is already driving a wave of change through the world of wine.  As new frontiers for grape growing open up, the viability of some traditional production areas is under threat from scorching temperatures and prolonged droughts.  And in between the two extremes, some long-established styles are being transformed.  Some whites once renowned for being light and crisp are getting fatter and more floral while medium-bodied reds are morphing into heavyweight bruisers.

    « Some people are alarmists, I prefer to be an optimist, » says Fernando Zamora, œnology researcher and professor at Rovira i Virgili University in Tarragona, Spain.  « I have no doubt that we will still have vineyards in traditional regions, but we have to think of new strategies.  And we will also have new zones for vineyards.  That’s for sure.  Already in Germany they are making fine red wine where it used to be very difficult.  And in Denmark, now they’ve started making wine. » (suite…)

  • CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS PRODUCTION WORLDWIDE

    par | Mai 26, 2011

    By WILLIAM LYONS — The Wall Street Journal Europe

    Rising temperatures across the winemaking regions of the world are having a profound impact on taste and quality.  Across the world viticulturalists are being forced to adapt climate change. In some cases the shifting weather patterns, combined with higher incidents of extreme events, are contributing to a change in taste, style and character of the wine.  While this can be bad news for some wine regions, it can be good for others. Take France in 2009, where the weather conspired to produce wines, across the country, of exceptional quality.

    In the faculty of oenology at Bordeaux’s Institute of Vineyard and Wine Sciences the vintage report showed that the growing season met almost perfectly all the conditions for a great Bordeaux vintage.  Some vignerons talked about it as a year without comparison, others of how in 2009 they had made the best wine in their lifetimes.  In Burgundy, the red wines were exceptionally ripe, forward and low in tannin.  In Beaujolais, people talked of the most outstanding vintage for 50 years.  Master of Wine, Jasper Morris, described Beaujolais 2009 as luscious, perhaps even as good as the legendary 1959.  In Germany, there was widespread euphoria over the quality of the grapes harvested.  Critics were united in their praise.  In the northern hemisphere, 2009 had been an exceptional year.

    WineBottle

    Photo illustration: Abi Hardwick

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