Late April frosts in the French region of Bordeaux have resulted in what the Guardian has described as the “worst wine grape harvest since 1945,” with wine production plummeting 40 percent overall in that region for 2017.
Last year’s harvest weighed in at 3.5m hectoliters, a 40 percent decrease from the 2016 harvest, according to the Bordeaux wine council. For some chateaux, 90 percent of the crop was lost; for others, the harvest was unchanged, the Guardian reported.
What’s a vintner to do when an icy spring threatens precious shoots and buds? For some producers, one method was to set fires in oil drums to help thaw the ice that coated the vines.
A bad year begat a good vintage, however: Despite the decreased quantity of the yield, quality of 2017’s harvest was up.
