French vineyards 鈥榖urned鈥� in intense heatwave damage
Vineyards in the south of France have been damaged in the scorching heatwave this week, with local winemakers saying they have not seen such burns in 鈥渙ver 30 years鈥�.
The departments of the Gard and the H茅rault have been particularly affected, with the grapes appear to have been 鈥渂urned with a blowtorch鈥�. The area was placed on M茅t茅o France red alert for the heatwave (canicule) this week. Temperatures reached over 45掳C in some places.
Winemaker and president of the H茅rault chamber of commerce, J茅r么me Despey, : 鈥淭emperatures reached such levels that some vines appear to have been blowtorched; literally grilled...grapes were burned, and the leaves dried out.鈥�
In a tweet, Mr Despey added that he intended to 鈥渁ctivate the emergency unit鈥� at the departmental chamber of agriculture, to get a clearer picture of the damage as soon as possible.
He added: 鈥淰ines usually resist heat, but with the levels reached on Friday, winemaking is paying a large price. This is something that I have never lived through. I have been a winemaker for 30 years. I have never seen a vine burned by a heatwave like this; it鈥檚 impressive.鈥�
Winemakers in Villeveyrac, Fabr猫gues and the Pic Saint-Loup area were most affected, he said, including very old 鈥渁ncestral鈥� vines, such as the Carignan.
Mr Despey also acknowledged that small wildfires across the Gard had also wreaked havoc for several farmers and winemakers in the past few days.
