The China Mail - Bordeaux wine harvest drops to lowest level since 1991

Often called the world's most famous wine country, Bordeaux -- France's biggest wine region -- produces the iconic Medoc, Saint-Emilion, and Pomerol high-end wines, as well as larger quantities of lower-priced produce.

In total, Bordeaux winemakers produced 3.3 million hectolitres of wine last year, after 3.8 million in 2023, a drop of 14 percent.

Unfavourable weather, especially episodes of frost, weighed on production, while a high level of rainfall in the spring favoured the spread of disease, notably mildew.

Another major factor was a government-subsidised reduction in the size of vineyards amid efforts to curb over-production.

Just 95,000 hectares of Bordeaux wine country was cultivated in 2024, down from 103,000 the year before.

But wine professionals detected a silver lining. They say low output would cause prices to rise, and demand to soak up stocks built up in years of excess production.

"This will happen over the coming months or years," said Christophe Chateau, a spokesman for the CIVB wine sector association, saying that wine sales had already outstripped current production last year.

"If you sell more than you produce, then you not only meet demand, you can dip into your stocks and, arithmetically, prices will rise," he told AFP.

Meanwhile, Bordeaux winemakers are concerned about the impact of any new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

The United States is the Bordeaux region's top export market with wine worth 340 million euros ($355 million) shipped to the US last year.

"We're not sure what this will mean for sales," said Chateau. "If Trump slaps a 25-percent tax on French wines in the US, sales there will fall and the imbalances will continue."

Trump on Thursday unveiled a plan for "reciprocal tariffs" that could affect both allies and competitors, in an escalation of trade tensions since the start of his term.

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