Bordeaux, France (PRWEB) December 14, 2021 The Bordeaux wine region is celebrating the achievements of their Next Gen winemakers with a special big bottle
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Last week, images of candlelit French vineyards flooded social media. Across the country, winemakers installed
bougies, or large wax-filled metal pots, among the vines to prevent cold air from settling in during an especially late frost.
With temperatures in early April as low as 22°F, and following an unseasonably warm March, this year’s frost damage may be the worst in history for French winegrowers. Every corner of France reports considerable losses, from Champagne to Provence, and Côtes de Gascogne to Alsace. As a result, there will likely be very little French wine from the 2021 vintage reaching U.S. shores.
Part of the reason for the widespread destruction has been the balmy weather stimulating budburst at the end of March.
In Bordeaux, where temperatures had hovered around the mid-20s (mid-to-high 70s in Fahrenheit) for more than a week before the cold hit, many vines had already developed multiple leaves. When temperatures dipped to minus 5C last week, the results were disastrous.
The Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) released a statement saying the 2021 volumes would be severely impacted by the frost damage suffered so far. Initial estimates of the damage talk about a 40-50 percent volume drop. Jonathan Ducourt, sales and marketing manager for the almost 500-hectare Vignobles Ducourt, estimates his total loss will be closer to 60 percent.