French wine production hit by summer heat waves and wildfires

Output is projected to be 37.4 million hectolitres, down from an August estimate of as much as 42.5 million hectolitres

France expects 2025 wine production to drop below the five-year average, after heat waves, drought and wildfires damaged vineyards.

Output is projected to be 37.4 million hectolitres, down from an August estimate of as much as 42.5 million hectolitres, according to a report from the country’s agriculture ministry. That would be slightly higher than production in 2024, when adverse weather also hit the harvest, but it’s 13% below the five-year average.

The production forecast is the latest blow to France’s wine industry, after President Donald Trump slapped a 15% import tariff on shipments to the US last month. The French government has previously been helping farmers uproot vines amid a global wine glut, with demand dwindling due to changing drinking patterns and lacklustre economic conditions.

“The heat wave and drought in August impacted the production potential and brought forward harvest dates in several vineyards,” the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday (Sep 9).

The reduction in wine-growing areas – with more than 20,000 hectares uprooted since the last harvest in Bordeaux, Languedoc-Roussillon and the southwest of the country – also contributed to the decline in volumes, it said.

The worst fires in 70 years in the Aude department in the southwest of France destroyed more than 17,000 hectares, including vineyards and other agricultural land. The Alsace and the Languedoc-Roussillon regions were particularly hit by the heat waves and the drought, the ministry said.

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The impact of climate change contributed to global wine output slumping to a more-than 60-year low in 2024. BLOOMBERG