FranceAgriMer reviews the crop potential downwards

According to these forecasts, the French harvest should be in the average production for the past five years. The statistical FranceAgriMer adds that the forecasting exercise is quite tricky, "given the unstable weather conditions and the issue of powdery and downy mildew outbreaks until the harvest". (to know more about the sanitary state of the vine, please click here).

Languedoc Roussillon is the first French wine producing region. It would produce 12.9 million hl of wine in 2012, which is -12.4% compared to 2011 volumes. In 2012, the Charentes wine areas would produce 8.824 million hl (-5.1%). In Aquitaine, the growers would harvest 7.085 million hl in 2012 (-5.1%). The production of the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur region would have a 5% decline and would reach 4.075 million hl. The Loire Valley region would show a sharp production decrease, with a reduction of 13.3% (2.625 million hl expected). The viticultural Champagne would produce 2.625 million hl (-8.9%). In Midi Pyrénées, the harvest would reach 2.562 million hl (-11.9%). The Rhone-Alpes region would show the greatest reduction in production with a 14.1% drop (2.198 million hl). This decrease is caused by hail on many occasions which has strongly cut down the Beaujolais production. In Alsace, 1.171 million hl would be produced (-1%). The wine growers in Burgundy would harvest 1.601 million hl (-4.1%). Corsica would produce 345,000 hl in 2012, which would make it the only region to increase its wine volumes produced in 2012 (+6.8%).

Source:www.vitisphere.com