German and French vintners are harvesting their grapes weeks ahead of schedule following the heatwave that has affected much of Europe. While many German farmers have complained that the hot, dry climate has damaged crops such as wheat, with yields expected to be down by as much as 50%, vintners have seen reason to celebrate.
“We are extremely early with our harvest this year,” Ernst Büscher from the German Wine Institute told German media. “Historically speaking we’re around three weeks ahead of where we’d usually be.” Yields are also predicted to be considerably higher than usual. The long, hot period is expected to produce better quality wine due to riper grapes with higher sugar content and consequently higher alcohol content.
In France, winemakers in the southern Languedoc region said production levels were likely to be higher than last year. French agriculture minister Stéphane Travert said the 2018 grape output was expected to be higher than average following weather-related losses in 2017, including a late cold snap that slashed the local harvest in Bordeaux by 40%. Sébastien Vaillant, a winemaker in Valençay in the Loire Valley, told France Bleu radio he expected “a very good vintage, with silkier and softer tannins”.
However, vintners struck a note of caution, saying some grapes would be affected by excessive heat, which could cause the acid in the fruit to break down, giving the wine a stale taste. Despite high spring rainfall preventing drought in French wine regions, hailstorms in May left a threat of mould, particularly for organic growers, though the recent heat helped fight it off.
The early harvest puts German vintners in direct competition with Italian colleagues, whose young wines usually hit the German market about a month ahead. This year, both will be available at a similar time. Meanwhile, German beer producers have seen a surge in business due to the hot weather, but face longer-term gloom due to barley crop failures, with yields predicted to drop by as much as 40% in northern Germany.
