French harvest bigger than 2010, says ministry

Champagne 2011 harvest

(Image credit: Champagne 2011 harvest)

The French grape harvest is predicted to exceed 47 million hectolitres (hl) this year – an increase of 6% compared to 2010.

According to figures published by the French ministry of agriculture and fishing, the nation’s vineyards will bear 47.9m hl of fruit, an increase on last year’s small crop.

However, the ministry admitted there was still time for the crop size to be reduced, due to poor weather in the run up to the harvest and disease outbreaks.

Its report warned, ‘Fungal attacks, are under control for the moment but could be affected in the coming weeks if the humid weather continues. ‘

Despite grubbing up measures in the Languedoc-Roussillon leading to a 4% reduction in the region’s vineyard area, the potential crop is expected to increase by more than 1m hl to 13.1m hl.

Written by Rebecca Gibb

Rebecca Gibb MW is a wine journalist and editor who has also founded Bamboozled games, ‘the world’s first wine and spirit puzzle makers’. Having spent six years living in New Zealand, she has recently returned to her native north-east England. While in New Zealand, she became a Master of Wine, graduating top of her class and winning the Madame Bollinger medal for excellence in tasting. A former winner of both the UK’s young wine writer of the year and the Louis Roederer Emerging Wine Writer, her first book The Wines of New Zealand was published in 2018. She also runs wine events and has her own consultancy business The Drinks Project. She was a judge at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).