PARIS (Reuters) – The French Ministry of Agriculture lowered its forecast for wine production on Tuesday in 2025 to 36 million hectoliters, against 37.4 million hectoliters estimated last month, 1% less than the harvest of last year, due to the heat wave of August.

The revised forecasts, based on the latest harvesting results, estimate a wine production of 16% of the last five years lower than 16%.

“The harvest, now almost completed, confirm the unfavorable consequences of the August heat wave on the production potential in most basins,” said the ministry.

“The heat wave and the dryness of August reduced the production potential, accelerating the maturity of the grapes while blocking their magnification. The result was smaller bays with less juice, than the rains of September, arrived late, did not allow to compensate.”

France is the second world producer of wine after Italy and the first exporter in value. Its wine production has been affected by unfavorable weather conditions in the past two years, while surplus management policies have prompted winegrowers to tear part of their vineyards.

In Champagne, production would exceed that of 2024 by 14%, reaching approximately 2.1 million hectoliters, while remaining 10% less than the past five years. The producers said that the harvest was of good quality.

In the Charentes, a key region for the production of cognac, production would be slightly lower than that already reduced by 2024, and withdrawn by 23% compared to the average of the last five years.

In the Bordeaux and Languedoc-Roussillon, two large wine pools, production would decrease respectively by 2% and 9% compared to 2024, and would remain behind 17% and 19% compared to the average of the last five years.

In Burgundy, the harvest promises to be clearly improved compared to 2024, strongly affected by Mildiou. Conversely, in neighboring Beaujolais, the yield would be the weakest for at least 35 years, a consequence of the heat wave, drought, mildew, flowing and hail.

In the Loire Valley, the harvest, completed in September suffered the effects of the heat wave, with more wall but less bulky grapes. Production has been revised downwards since the last estimate, but it would however exceed 15% that of 2024.

Conversely, Alsatian production would receive 9% compared to 2024.

One hectolitre is equivalent to 100 liters, or about 133 bottles of standard wine of 75 cl.

(Sybille de la Hamaide, Elena Smirnova, edited by Augustin Turpin)

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