FranceLink

France set for poor wine grape harvest

Experts forceast low yield from many French vineyards after a combination of a cold, wet spring and severe hailstorms during the summer.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

To support Mediapart subscribe

France is facing one of its poorest wine grape harvests in four decades, forecasts showed on Wednesday, due to a cold and rainy spring and severe hail storms, reports GlobalPost.

The 2013 harvest is expected to reach just 43.5 millions hectolitres -- well below the 10-year average of 45.4 million, according forecasts from the FranceAgriMer public agricultural service.

That would make the 2013 harvest one of the worst in 40 years and only a slight improvement on last year's record low harvest of 41.4 million, according to Jerome Despey, head of FranceAgriMer's viticulture section.

Read more of this AFP report published by GlobalPost.