The French wine industry is experiencing one of its lowest production outputs in the past three decades, severely affected by record heatwaves, prolonged summer drought and unseasonal spring frosts. In SA, it's shaping up to be an early harvest as El Niño takes its toll. Stock up while you can.
"Ons is mos landbouers. Ons moet positief wees. Daar's genoeg ander negatiewe dinge. [We are farmers. We must be positive. There are enough other negative things.]" - Viticulturist Bennie Liebenberg.
On the seminal luxury rap classic Otis, Kanye West prayed that "all of their pain be Champagne". While who he was referring to remains open to interpretation, it was certainly not the current agricultural crisis playing out in the French wine regions and heading our way.
If you haven't already heard, France's Ministry of Agriculture projects overall wine output for 2026 will be down 6% from last year and 17% below the five-year average. The Champagne region is among the hardest-hit, with production expected to fall by 49% compared with 2025 and 47% below its five-year average.
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Extreme weather accelerated grape maturation, forcing pickers back early and forcing harvesting dates to some of the earliest on record.
Maxime Toubart, co-president of the Comité Champagne (CIVC), the industry's governing body, was blunt in his admission: "We were not quite ready."
Compounding problems
The irony is that sunny conditions prevented mildew and yielded exceptional grape quality, but the extreme heat resulted in high potential alcohol levels - introducing technical winemaking challenges...
