Mildew impacts the Rhône Valley

Issues with weather have continued across French vineyards with the Rhône also being hit across almost all of the wine-producing areas this year.

According to Vitisphere, all of the plots of Grenache were hit with mildew in the Southern Rhône Valley.

It said that the vineyards which had applied sprays before the heavy rain at the beginning of April had been saved, but those who hadn’t taken action had outbreaks of mildew.

Further spells

When further spells of rain hit in May, it added to the issue, with wine advisor for the Vaucluse Chamber of Agriculture Rémi Vandamme has seen mildew in all the plots he visited “from Châteauneuf-du-Pape to Valréas”, it said.

In addition, winegrower Xavier Tronc told the publication that mildew was “worse than 2008 and 2018”.

He said: “I believe we’ve lost 100,000 hectolitres of Côtes-du-Rhône, Côtes-du-Rhône Villages and Côtes du Rhône Crus.”

But at present it would appear the pressure is mainly on Grenache and hasn’t impacted other grape varieties badly, which are “faring better” according to viticulture consultants Mélanie Choppin and Mathilde Joumas at the Cooperative Wine Institute.

波尔多

The news comes as spring’s wet and warm weather caused an “early and very virulent” outbreak of mildew in Bordeaux.

就在各界人士庆祝和品尝波尔多 2023 年份期酒的同时，法国网站Vitisphere称，由于上个月的降雨和温暖天气，葡萄园受到了霉菌的严重威胁。

法国葡萄与葡萄酒研究所（IFV）的亚历山大-达维（Alexandre Davy）在 CIVB 的一次网络研讨会上说，利布尔纳地区 "几乎到处 "都有霉菌，"经常发生，甚至非常频繁"。

Davy 补充说，格拉夫地区的情况也是如此，但梅多克地区的情况 "更为分散"。

戴维说，疫情爆发的时间比去年和 2020 年早了几周，并指出从 2023 年 9 月到今年 4 月，圣埃米利永降雨量为 950 毫米，而平均降雨量为 544 毫米。此外，气温也升高了 1.3 摄氏度。