WINE NEWS: June & July – Drought & fire

In June, both AREV and the French Winegrowers Cooperative have had their congress to discuss the next steps to take for the future of the wine industry. In the meantime, the Spanish FEV have put out a manifesto to protect rural vineyards, and OIV’s Pau Roca signalled that despite the fall in consumption of wine to the pandemic, now is the perfect time to invest in wine exports. The month concluded by the signature of the FTA between the EU and New Zealand, which is said to eliminate tariffs for wine, and at the same time protect the full list of European wines.

In July, Europe’s latest heat waves have triggered fires and caused damages to winemakers. After the dry spring, and once again record high summer temperatures, winemakers are facing wildfires across wine-growing regions in Europe, including in France, Greece, Portugal and Spain. The damages and loss of production are still being assessed, but it will certainly lead to shrinking the potential harvest and fewer resources for the next year. Nonetheless, due to the extreme drought, some producers have been granted permission to irrigate their vines, and others have started to already collect their ripe grapes.

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