(NYT) Roger Cohen: French Wine Production Ravaged by a Devastating Frost

[AKR]

Roger Cohen: French Wine Production Ravaged by a Devastating Frost
2021-04-13 08:59:20.135 GMT

By Roger Cohen

(New York Times) -- France’s winegrowers had already been hit by higher U.S.
taxes and the pandemic. Now they are dealing with a “violent” cold snap.

PARIS — A sudden frost, the worst in decades, has ravaged a French wine
industry already reeling from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and what
is known among winegrowers as the “Trump tax.”

Candles and small fires glittered across vineyards and orchards last week,
their pretty flickering belying the disaster, as winegrowers and farmers tried
everything to ward off the frost cutting the life from newly formed shoots and
buds. A layer of smog from the fires formed over Lyon and areas of the
southeast.

But by the time the cold snap ended, destruction had spread across most of
France’s winegrowing regions, including the Rhone Valley, Bordeaux, Burgundy,
Champagne and the Loire. Jean-Marie Barillère, the head of a major wine
industry association, told the French daily Le Figaro that the frost had hit
“80 percent of French vineyards.”

The frost followed a period of mild weather, with the result that plunging
temperatures caught rural France by surprise. Vines were the worst hit, but
almond and fruit trees were also affected, as well as some other crops,
including beets and rapeseed.

Emotion ran high throughout French wine regions, the soul of the country in
many ways.

“I heard someone say it was like the loss of a family member,” Eric Pastorino,
the president of the Côtes de Provence appellation, a legally defined and
protected wine-growing area, told Le Figaro. “It may seem puerile, but that is
close to what I feel. Perhaps only winegrowers can understand this sentiment,
but we have found ourselves out in the vines in the morning with tears in our
eyes.”

Anne Colombo, who is president of the Cornas appellation, a prized winegrowing
area in the Rhone region, said it was the worst frost in more than a
half-century. “We’ve had greater problems with hail than frost, but this year
was devastating,” she said.

Reeling off the names of great Rhone wines — Condrieu, Cornas, Côte Rotie —
she indicated that they were all severely affected. Losses could range as high
as 80 percent. “It’s a terrible blow after the virus which has shut
restaurants and bars, and so slashed demand, and after the Trump tax.”

President Donald J. Trump imposed tariffs on French wines as a result of
various subsidy and tax disputes with France. The import taxes contributed to
a 14 percent plunge in global French wine and spirit exports last year. With
air traffic way down, duty-free wine sales have also plummeted.

French government ministers fell over themselves promising emergency aid to
stricken winegrowers and farmers. The French attachment to the land is fierce;
no politician can afford to ignore this. Jean Castex, the prime minister, said
the ceiling on an agricultural calamities fund would be lifted and
“exceptional” assistance given.

Julien Denormandie, the agriculture minister, said the frost was “an episode
of extreme violence that has caused very significant damage.” He convened an
emergency meeting Monday with winemakers as well as fruit, vegetable and
cereal producers to review the damage.

“The government will help us, but probably not to the extent of our losses,”
Ms. Colombo said. “Right now, they are spending like there is no tomorrow.”

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, the government of President Emmanuel
Macron has decided to spend whatever it takes to compensate people for lost
jobs and business. The final cost, and how the debt will be paid back, are
unclear. It seemed a similar approach would be taken to the agricultural
disaster.

“It’s incredibly hard, very violent,” David Joulain, an almond grower in the
south, told Agence France-Presse. “I have the feeling one knee is on the
ground. Every tree I have tested is dead, I am afraid that I have lost the
whole crop.”