Frost, (initial) assessment and outlook!

Forty-eight hours after the last of three nights of destructive frost, hours of field visits, and dozens of calls to producers, the same comment is repeated everywhere, in all wine-growing regions: the initial assessment is heavy, particularly for grape varieties. chardonnay , in the Yonne , in Côte de Beaune , Side Chalonnaise , Mâconnais and in pinot noir in the early sectors of the coasts of Beaune , Chalonnaise and Nuits; 80 to 100% of the buds that had emerged were scorched by the effects of polar temperatures (down to -6, -7°C), the effect of which was amplified by the humidity brought by the rain and… the snow that fell during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday last week; on damp vegetation the frost point approaches 0 degrees, whereas in a dry environment, a winegrower of Chablis He told us that the buds can withstand temperatures as low as -3%, or even -4%.

Hope in the late-developing areas

80 to 100% of buds being frozen will not necessarily translate into an 80 to 100% crop loss. Everyone is now waiting to see the secondary buds emerge in two or three weeks; they won't be as fruitful as the first buds, but some winemakers are hoping for half a harvest, at best…; some areas also seem to be slightly less affected, and Aurélie Cheveau, president of the appellation, Pouilly-Fuissé In the Mâconnais region, it was even estimated, after discussions with colleagues, that on the mid-slopes of the Premier Cru vineyards in Pouilly and Fuissé, 20 to 50% of the buds had not been damaged by frost. The other reason for hope concerns the pinot noir in the later sectors, Côte de Nuits , Hautes-Côtes, Yonne …where it is hoped that the buds in the cotton have not been too damaged. As for the Beaujolais The vines were also very advanced at the beginning of the week; there will be damage, but the lack of humidity and less severe temperatures have undoubtedly helped to limit the losses. It would also seem that the gamay either a "generous" grape variety with more fruitful secondary buds than in pinot noir However, the situation will be very different and the hope slimmer in other villages from the Mâconnais region, but also to Meursault Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet , Saint-Aubin , Volnay , Beaune , Givry , Rully , Montagny , Chablis …where no area was spared by this black, winter-like frost. Rully Vincent Dureuil even confided in us that Varot, a high-altitude climate in Rully village which normally always escapes frost had this time been devastated.

The enemy was too strong

As for the protection systems, the famous domaine In Puligny-Montrachet, Leflaive had invested in two wind turbines to circulate the air and heating candles; however, Brice de la Morandière, the stage manager, had to admit that "in such cold, snowy, and humid conditions, it wasn't enough. We did a lot, but it still wasn't sufficient." On this point, it should also be noted that while everyone was caught off guard by the 2016 frost, after 25 years without significant frost (the last one was in 1991), many producers have invested heavily since then; the spectacle, particularly in Puligny-Montrachet on Thursday morning, with the wind turbines, the helicopters circulating the air, and the dozens of hectares protected by the candles, was reminiscent of the film Apocalypse Now. The Burgundians pulled out all the stops, but the enemy was too strong!

Emergency measures

Within professional bodies, the focus is now on finding short-, medium-, and long-term solutions. Thiébault Huber, president of the CAVB (Confederation of Appellations and Winegrowers of Burgundy), met yesterday morning with the prefect of Saône-et-Loire, in the afternoon with the prefect of Côte-d'Or, and this morning with the prefect of... Yonne The wine industry has requested emergency measures from the government: exemption from social security contributions and property tax, an extension of the repayment period for government-guaranteed loans (PGEs, implemented in response to the health crisis) from 5 to 10 years, and subsidies, potentially under the agricultural disaster relief plan announced yesterday, April 9th, by the government, to cover losses; this applies to plants and old vines that will not recover from the frost. "But there is also fundamental work to be done to set a maximum rent for leases in the event of a major crisis of this kind, as well as to address climate insurance, which is no longer adequate," explains Thiébault Huber, who continues: "In the longer term, we also need to revive research on grape variety selections, on later-ripening rootstocks that bud later and would thus be less susceptible to frost, more resistant to drought, and on more effective frost protection systems."

Christophe Tupinier

Christophe TUPINIER

Publishing Director