The organization that represents wineries in the French region said, Tuesday, that between 20% to 25% of champagne vineyards were damaged by fungi after heavy rains earlier this month, which adds to the heavy losses caused by the frost at the beginning of the season. .
The vice president of the sectoral group, CIVC, Maxime Tobart, told Reuters that the total harvest will be lost, although there should be no impact on supply to the markets thanks to the reserves of ex-products.
Heavy rains hit Western Europe in mid-July, causing deadly floods in Germany and Belgium and raising concerns about damage, in terms of quality and quantity, to various agricultural products, including grain.
“It’s awful, it rained so much, just in time we needed hot, dry weather,” said Tobart, one of the producers.
Fungal attacks cause the grapes and leaves to dry out. Tobart said the entire farm was destroyed in some places.
“A loss between 20% and 25% on 35,000 hectares is significant. Older generations say they have never seen anything like this before,” Tobart said.
Severe frosts throughout the winter destroyed 30% of production.
(Port Sibel de la Hamid)
