France expects massive slump in 2024 wine harvest

France expects the worst wine harvest in years. Photo: Philippe LOPEZ / AFP
Source: AFP

Unfavourable weather has likely slashed France's 2024 wine harvest by 23 percent compared to the previous year, the agriculture ministry said in an estimate published Friday.

The ministry's 37-million-hectolitre (980 million gallons) forecast for this year's harvest would be close to the crisis-hit sector's record lows of 2017 and 2021, both also hamstrung by weather effects.

If confirmed, the figure would also be a 17-percent drop on the average for the past five years.

All types of French wine are affected by the expected lower harvest, with top-name regions like Burgundy, Beaujolais and Champagne especially hard hit.

Friday's forecast was a significant downward revision of earlier expectations for an 18-percent drop, published in September.

Source: AFP