French winegrowers are desperately hoping for a June bloom to save their harvest after a late freeze in April destroyed up to 90 per cent of some Bordeaux vines, reports The Telegraph.
Producers frantically tried to battle the unseasonal cold snap by lighting fires in oil drums, carefully positioned between the rows, in an attempt to stop vines freezing at night.
They also used giant fans to stop cold damp air from settling on the plants. Emergency services flew helicopters over vineyards in another, equally unsuccessful attempt to battle freezing condensation.
Few plants were saved. The freeze left a grim landscape of shrivelled vines. The bitter cold struck twice in one week, ravaging the fragile shoots and buds that had emerged early after mild temperatures in March.
Winemakers are nervously anticipating the crucial June flowering phase, hoping that pollination will occur, saving at least some of their vines.
Bordeaux normally produces nearly £2 billion of wine each year and the loss could be as high as £1.3 billion, according to CIVB, a wine industry association in the region.
François Despagne, who produces a Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, Château Grand Corbin-Despagne, said: “Ninety per cent of our vineyard was damaged, more than I’ve seen in 20 years as a winegrower.”
Jean-François Galhaud, head of the Saint-Emilion Wine Council, which represents nearly 1,000 growers, said: “We have a hangover. Eighty per cent of our vineyard was hit by the frost. It’s all our work that has been wiped out.”
Rows of his Merlot vines stood barren, their leaves curled up.
Winegrowers say they have not suffered such a damaging frost since 1991.