French wine harvest set to hit historic low

PARIS – With its wine industry hit by a swathe of summer heatwaves, France is set to see the 2026 harvest hit a historic low.

At around 35 million hectolitres, the total harvest would be down 2% on a mediocre 2025 yield and 14% below the 2021–2025 average, according to estimates published on Oct 7 by the French ministry of agriculture.

According to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), which tracks global statistics on wine production and consumption, France had already recorded in 2025 its lowest production since 1957.

This latest decline is down not just to hot weather, which has been slightly mitigated by recent rainfall, but also a reduction in cultivated areas – pared back 1.9% in the past year.

Some southern areas, already battered by the heat in 2025, have nonetheless seen production rise in 2026, notably Bordeaux.

There, despite a 5% decrease in cultivated areas, production is set to come in up 10% on 2025, albeit still 11% below the 2021-2025 average.

For the south-west, the rise is around 12%, essentially a return to the previous four-year average.

The Champagne region fared less well as growers had to harvest exceptionally early after the extreme heat sped sugar build-up – and hence natural alcohol production.

The harvest there wrapped up in September 2026 for the first time with production down by half on 2025 and the five-year average.

In Champagne, producer Claude Mandois reported harvesting three-quarters of an average yield in terms of volume, although “in terms of quality visually and in terms of taste, we had an exceptional harvest”.

In Burgundy and the Beaujolais region, production is projected to be 30% lower than the five-year average.

“It’s a level of heterogeneity I’ve never experienced before,” said Jerome Despey, chairman of the wine advisory board at the public agency FranceAgriMer and a winegrower in the southern Herault department.

In the south, “we’ve seen that vines have been more resilient to the climate”, he said, with previous intense heat spells causing growers to adapt vineyard management practices such as largely leaving leaves to protect the grapes.

Southern regions also benefited from May rainfall.

The ministry and the industry emphasised overall the “excellent health” of the harvest, free of fungi and other moisture-related diseases. AFP