Adverse weather events damaged vinegrowing activities across Europe, paricularly in France.  There, hail storms severely hit Meursault and Mercurey, with on average around 10 to 20 percent damage) and the Côte Chalonnaise further south (an initial estimation of 50 percent damage to the Chardonnay and 20 percent to the Pinot Noir at Château de Chamirey in Mercurey, for instance).  Moreover, following recent heatwaves, numerous regions in central and eastern France were hit by thunderstorms, with hail reported (beyond Burgundy) in the Massif Central and heavy rainfall, hail and power cuts Jura and Alsace.

Still in France, a much-discussed mildew outbreaks affected Bordeaux, threatening production.  Bordeaux continues to be plagued with high humidity and heavy mildew pressure – as has Bergerac, the South West (in particular Irouléguy, with parts of Jurançon also hit), Languedoc and even Provence.  The head of the FDSEA (National Federation of Farmers) Union in Bordeaux, Jean-Samuel Eynard, told wine news website Vitisphere.com this week that: “The situation is truly catastrophic” and that “In 40 years in the industry, I’ve never seen the like.”

In Bergerac, the head of the Federation of Bergerac and Duras Winegrowers organisation told regional newspaper Sud-Ouest: “We’ve been at war [with mildew] for two months and we’ve lost”.

Piedmont (Italy) was hit with hail in early July after a supercell storm broke just southeast of Turin, hitting parts of Roero and Asti on a northwest-southeast line across Alba. Reports indicated that the likes of Barbaresco, Neive and Alba itself were hit although the damage varies from commune to commune.  “We received reports of hail the size of tennis balls and extensive damage to crops,” Alberto Cirio, president of the Piedmont Region, told regional news station TGR Piemonte. Other reports said hail the size of walnuts had damaged crops and vines in the region. Europe isn’t alone. Wildfire season has also hit California although fires there are, so far, confined to the Central Valley region and its eastern hillside (the Sierra Foothills) and appear to be some distance from vineyards.

Bordeaux’s Entre-deux-Mers wine region has been cheated out of €43,000 ($48,000) after payment for a bulk shipment of wine glasses for a tasting event went through a scam email.

According to regional newspaper Sud-Ouest, the scam only came to light at a general meeting of the Entre-deux-Mers winegrowers union in which its president, David Labat, revealed the region had been duped out of the cash several months ago.

“We’re trying to talk to our bank in an effort to retrieve some of the funds but it is not going well,” Labat reportedly said.

It’s understood the culprit was located in the Rhône-Alpes region of southeast France although they remain at large.

“Luckily, the wine region known for its whites is not in the red,” said Sud-Ouest.

Contract grape prices in Rioja are causing worry in the region with some growers being offered 40 cents ($0.45) per kilo – a figure that, one prominent Rioja Alta winery reportedly said, would not cover the cost of pruning.

According to local Rioja news outlet Nuevecuatrouno.com, some wineries were offering prices of “52 or 55 cents per kilo of grapes and some cooperatives are trialing 50 cents with a first payment of 15 cents”. Reports of prices of 40 cents per kilo had one unnamed winery up in arms.

The source said: “This is a disaster,… at that price not even the pruning costs are covered. And then there is talk of wanting to make quality wines and for Rioja to recover its value.”

The uproar comes in the midst of the region’s move to distill excess wine stocks (in line with approval from Brussels and similar efforts in Spain and France) and a green harvesting initiate to reduce yields. For more on this see Rioja Glut Prompts Distillation Bid and Extremadura requests crisis distillation in New Rosé Good for the Gut.

Last week it was announced that the Rioja region would receive €15 million ($167m) in aid for the wine sector this year with a further €17 million available in 2024.