Wine Spectator: Polar Blasts Test French Vintners’ Resolve

Anyone thinking that France’s vintners had put the risk of frost behind them with the end of April were mistaken. Frigid air from the Arctic swept over France again the first week of May, less than a month after freezing temperatures devastated numerous wine regions. “We had another hit of frost the morning [of May 3]. It was [26° F] in certain sectors—so we’re not at the end of it yet,” said Thiébault Huber, winegrower in Meursault and president of Burgundy’s winegrowers union.

This was the latest in a series of brutal Arctic blasts that began on April 6 and have inflicted catastrophic damage. Numerous types of crops have been hit, and Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie has declared a national agricultural disaster. Wine Spectator has a full report.—Suzanne Mustacich

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