When the sky roars, winegrowers pray. During the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, very violent storms hit the east of the country. To the point of placing five departments on red alert: Haute-Saône, Jura, Haut-Rhin, Territoire de Belfort and Doubs. To the chagrin of the operators, hail did not fail to fall on this wine-growing department which makes France shine in the world. For most of the night, hail the size of a golf ball pounded the plots.
The storm passed, the winegrowers are healing their wounds. And they are unevenly deep in Côte-d’Or, with thunderstorms being among the most localized meteorological phenomena. While some plots were relatively spared, others were not so lucky. Vins de Beaune expects “around 5% to 10% loss for the 2023 harvest”. However, the organization for the defense and management of the Beaune appellation recalls that “this rain was beneficial in meeting the water needs of July”.
In Meursault, the center of the great white wines of Burgundy, the awakening was painful. The hail destroyed a large part of the production. “The year was going to be excellent before this stormy episode. Everything was perfect… But there is nothing to do, we are totally powerless against Mother Nature”, we comment on the Patrick Javillier estate, 80% of whose vines are located in the town. Even if for the moment, “we still have to wait to see how the vines react”, the losses are certain. “In some plots, they are of the order of at least 50%”, regrets a representative.
“Today, we wake up a bit hungover,” says Elsa Matrot, from the eponymous estate, also based in Meursault. “We are going to do a full tour of our properties to see the damage but it is a little early to decide on their extent”, explains the young woman who vinifies first growths, village appellations and also generic Burgundies, in Meursault. but also elsewhere. One thing is certain, without the situation being catastrophic for his domain, the stormy and hailstorm event will leave its mark. Elsa and her sister Adèle are getting used to these complicated climatic episodes. “From our experience we already have an idea of the damage but we are waiting for our expert to assess this with precision and initiate the steps,” she explains.
On the side of the Vincent Bachelet estate, we consider “rather doing well”. If some of their plots are affected in Saint-Aubin or Meursault, those of Gevrey-Chambertin or Pommard, in particular, seem intact. Yet the fear was there when the hailstorm hit the region. Like many properties on the Côte d’Or – the late frost episodes of recent years have convinced the most recalcitrant – the estate has multi-risk insurance. “But this one works in a rather convoluted way”, breathes Étienne Bachelet, winemaker and operator of the estate with his father.
When the vines suffer damage and compensation must be paid, the insurers calculate an “Olympic” average. The experts take the last five years of production and isolate the two vintages where the yields were the best and the worst. They then apply a percentage based on the observed losses. “When the damage weighs less than 10% to 15% there is not really coverage. And in 2021, with the frost episode classified as a natural disaster, state compensation was strangely higher for those who did not have cover,” explains the young winemaker.
In addition to the gross damage, the storm can cause additional work and the need for labor which is rarely taken into account in the invoice. The humidity generated by such episodes can develop a fungus called Botrytis cinerea. If this mold is very popular in some vineyards to make sweet wine, “it is a real scourge” for dry white wines. Hence the increased vigilance to be had on the bunches and additional sorting work in the vines.
The François Gaunoux estate, which deplores 2% to 3% damage to its various wines, will not trigger its insurance. “We are lucky to be spared, especially since the weather this Wednesday was hot and dry. The vines will be able to dry out, so it will not degrade the quality of the wines, ”explains Claudine Gaunoux, who runs the estate. If this episode had taken place in the middle of August, ie 3-4 weeks before the harvest, “the situation there could have been dramatic”, explains the winegrower.
However, operators in the region are used to complicated years. The 2021 frosts had taken a heavy toll on the production of Côtes de Nuits, Côte de Beaune and Chablisien. That year, the beautiful shiny yellow of the Chardonnay had sometimes given way to purplish berries covered with white hairs, betraying rot due to the rain. And the pinot noir, was also a pale figure. This generates low returns. But professionals want to be optimistic and believe that, for the time being, the current situation remains far from that of two years ago. “Fortunately, the storms did not cause any significant damage to the vineyard,” even the Romanée-Conti estate told us.
