France expects massive slump in 2024 wine harvest / Photo: Philippe LOPEZ - AFP
France expects massive slump in 2024 wine harvest
Unfavourable weather has likely slashed France's 2024 wine harvest by 23 percent compared to the previous year, the agriculture ministry said in an estimate published Friday.
The ministry's 37-million-hectolitre (980 million gallons) forecast for this year's harvest would be close to the crisis-hit sector's record lows of 2017 and 2021, both also hamstrung by weather effects.
If confirmed, the figure would also be a 17-percent drop on the average for the past five years.
All types of French wine are affected by the expected lower harvest, with top-name regions like Burgundy, Beaujolais and Champagne especially hard hit.
Friday's forecast was a significant downward revision of earlier expectations for an 18-percent drop, published in September.
C.P.Wilson--RTC
