Scorching summer pushes French wine harvest to new historic low
A worker harvests grape in a vineyard in Burgundy, France. (AFP Photo)
French wine production in 2026 is expected to fall 6 percent from 2025 after a summer of unprecedented heatwaves and drought, the agriculture ministry has said, predicting the most paltry harvest for some 70 years.
France, the world’s second-largest wine producer after Italy, is expected to produce less than 34 million hectoliters in 2026, according to estimates released by the agriculture ministry.
According to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), the 2025 figure was already a historic low, marking the lowest production in France since 1957.
