By piai @Adobe Stock

Nayla Razzouk of Bloomberg reports that France, the world leader in wine production, is salvaging what’s left to harvest after bad weather destroyed much of the 2024 crop. Razzouk writes:

Franceโ€™s wine production for 2024 is seen dropping 22% in 2024 due to bad weather across all growing areas.

Output in the worldโ€™s top wineย producerย is likely to be 37.5 million hectoliters this year, which is also 15% below the five-year average, according to an agriculture ministryย reportย citing estimates to Oct.1.

โ€œThis decrease is due to the unfavorable weather conditions which impacted all wine-growing areas,โ€ said the report. All types of wines are likely to see a drop in production, particularly those from Burgundy, Beaujolais and Champagne and wines intended for the production of brandy. […]

Bad weather has also damaged other crops across France, the European Unionโ€™s biggest agricultural producer. Soft-wheat harvest is seenย plungingย to the lowest in 40 years. Last month marked theย wettest September in 25 years, according to Mรฉtรฉo-France.

Read more here.