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FRANCE-WEATHER-CHAMPAGNE
Hail storms batter French champagne makers
REIMS, France, May 30, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – French champagne producers are
counting their losses after a battering by a wave of hail storms that wiped
out 1,000 hectares of grapes, the main growers’ association said Wednesday.
The northeastern Champagne region experienced four particularly heavy
hail storms in late April and May just as the vines were beginning to flower.
“So far 1,800 hectares have been damaged of which 1,000 have been 100
percent destroyed, representing three percent of the total champagne-growing
area,” the industry’s Champagne Committee said.
But thanks to a system which allows champagne producers to mix new
product with stocks from previous years, the weather damage is not expected
to result in shortages of fizz.
Winemakers in the southwest have also been affected by torrential summer
storms which have hit earlier this year than usual.
Pebble-sized hailstones destroyed 7,100 hectares of vines in the Bordeaux
area and a further 10,000 hectares in Cognac last weekend.
Agriculture Minister Stephane Travert told parliament on Saturday that
the government was looking into “what measures we can put in place and what
support we can offer” to the wine industry.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1657 hrs