The threat of tariffs loomed large again this week, with US president Donald Trump threatening a 100-percent tariff on French wine if Macron's administration did not drop a 3-percent tariff on US tech firms.
There were also further (unconfirmed) reports of hail damage following the hail storm between Beaune and Pommard last week, this time in Saint-Aubin.
There was more: Freixenet placed in Forbes' 100 Best Companies to Work for in Spain, primarily for its ongoing training programs for staff, attention to work-life balance and a equality measures.
"Freixenet also highlights the update of its Equality Plan in 2024 and the approval of an LGBTQ+ Plan in 2025," said business publication Entrempresas. "According to company data, the presence of women in management positions has increased by 20 percent in the last four years."
Other headlines included a bottle of 19th-Century Château Montrose found in Margaux barn; a report that the downturn in French wine consumption was also starting to hit organic wines with an 8 percent drop, year-on-year, in French organic vineyard area; and news from Cognac where cellarmaster Christophe Valtaud has left Martell with reports indicating Valtaud was not keen on company plans to increase his profile in overseas markets.
Here is a potted selection of some of the bigger stories out this week:
Wine crisis is only beginning
Former French international rugby player and eponymous wine producer Gérard Bertrand says the current crisis affecting the French wine industry is "only the start" of a downturn in wine that will go on for up to five years.
In a long-form Q&A with French wine news website Vitisphere published last weekend, the Languedoc-based wine producer covered a wide range of topics affecting French viticulture, winemaking and sales. This ranged from changing consumption and buying habits ("almost 50 percent of wine in China is bought on a phone"), the "outdated" Evin Law that regulates alcohol and tobacco advertising in French media, wildfires and irrigation in the south of France as well as the potential revival of the Sud de France label (see "Sud de France" officially axed in Sherry brings Zorro to Tears).
There was, however, particular emphasis on the current straits of the French wine industry, which is dealing with declining domestic sales and headwinds, including the likes of US tariffs, in overseas markets.
"Let's not kid ourselves, we're not at the end of the crisis, this is only the beginning," he said. "This is a structural and cyclical crisis that's going to last between three and five years, I believe."
As well as changing consumer patterns, he also said part of the French wine crisis was a structural readjustment.
"If Bordeaux is suffering so much, for example, it's because, in the space of 20 years, they went from a vineyard area much more based on white wines to an area that was very red," he said. "In France, we need more whites, which can produce still as well as sparkling wines, because these are growing markets."
Taking Italy as an example – indeed, Italy was frequently cited – he said the country was planting vines "despite its domestic market dropping by 9 percent against last year".
Indeed, the globally well-regarded sexagenarian said that French wine should not be concentrating on the now, but engaging in plans to grow internationally.
Although vine-pull and crisis distillation programs are being enacted across France (and wider Europe, including Spain), he said the country would "always be one step behind" and was looking for greater financial aid from the government in order to finance marketing opportunities to the tune of €100 million annually across five years.
"We've got to understand that Italy has been doing this for five years," he said. "In Canada, for example, when US wines were pulled from the shelves, the president of the Italian wine association requested a meeting with the SAQ and the LCBO, the two main Canadian liquor boards (in Quebec and Ontario), to see what they could do together: they created 'Italian Month'. As a result, Italian wine sales are up 40 percent, while we're only up 5 percent.
"Considering France's strong ties with Canada, how could we have missed this opportunity? We should have been up 40 percent and they should have been up 4 percent," he went on. "But the opposite happened, simply because they put a hundred producers and merchants on a plane and went to the market to set up all the necessary things to make it a success. That's unbearable to me, because if you combine the wide range of what we can offer with France's image, it stands to reason we'll start winning back market share. But we have to shut down our egos and differences and get to work."
Indeed, a French Wine Month program had clearly struck a nerve with the former rugby player.
"Imagine if, starting in 2027, we instigated a 'French [Wine] Month' in our top 10 consumer countries (the US, China, Japan, Canada, Switzerland and several European and Asian countries) with coordinated initiatives (involving restaurants, wine merchants, supermarkets, and e-commerce)," he said. "It would be a game-changer, I can tell you."
Above all, Bertrand wanted a roadmap.
"Putting a recovery plan in place will help restore hope," he concluded. "It will also help lay the foundations for the banks to support people during this transitional period. It will also encourage investment. Crises have always existed in every industry. When you have a recovery plan, you can look ahead, and the crisis is already somewhat behind you."
France readies for early harvest
We touched on this last week (see "Muscadet harvest set for mid-August" in Burgundy Battered by Hail) and it looks like much of French viticulture is readying to cut the summer holiday short this year. Regional television station Ici Bourgogne (part of national broadcaster Radio France) ran with the news that harvest in the Maconnais "could even start on August 12".
The news centered on an interview with media regular, winegrower and head of the Confederation of Appellations and Winegrowers of Burgundy, Thiébault Huber.
"If I'm talking about the Côte de Beaune [harvest will be] between August 20 and 25, and the further south you go, the earlier it will be," he said. "I think that for Crémants, it will start as early as August 15 or even August 12, so things are getting earlier and earlier."
Global Warming issues aside, one of the major upsides to early harvests in France is that winegrowers can tap into a labor resource otherwise tied-up come mid-September: students.
"It's ideal when the harvest is early – in August," said viticulture business advisor Sébastien Thomas. "As soon as [harvest] is in September, it's more complicated, as they've gone back to school."
"We motivate students all year round through our Vita Bourgogne program, with lots of events at the universities to attract them," said Huber. "They'll be on vacation, but starting August 20, come and spend a week, ten days, harvesting grapes to top-up your savings for the start of the academic year – that's what I want to tell them. Plus, it's often a fun time [...]. You don't need any special skills to harvest grapes, just a bit of energy and a willingness to help."
Marques de Riscal launches first bubbles
High-profile Rioja winery Marques de Riscal has launched its first-ever sparkling cuvée. Dubbed "Sublimme" and clearly taking cues from French sparkling wine production (it sports the words "fines bulles", or "fine bubbles", under the name), the wine is produced in nearby Rueda from Sauvignon Blanc.
"The choice of this variety – unusual in sparkling wine production – imparts a distinctive aromatic character, defined by its freshness, vibrant character, and fine, elegant bubbles," it said in a press release.
According to Riscal, the grapes are grown on "our own vineyards, some over 30 years old, in Rueda" – a region better known for its Verdejo production. Although not explicitly a méthode traditionnelle, the wine is produced by "double natural fermentation and aging on lees".
Why South African wine's premium shift matters now
A further nod to the likes of Dom Pérignon's Luminescent range, for instance, came with the decision to give Sublimme a black label with glow-in-the-dark writing and edging.
"The launch also stands out for its distinctive aesthetic," said the company, based in Elciego in the heart of Rioja Alta. "The black and yellow bottle incorporates luminescent ink that creates a unique visual effect in low-light environments, reinforcing the product's experiential and contemporary nature."
Torres publishes memoirs
Renowned Spanish wine producer and president of the eponymous Familia Torres brand, for which he established a global reputation, Miguel Torres has published his memoirs.
Dubbed "A Life Among the Vineyards", the 216-page book spans the life of the octagenarian winemaker, from his childhood to his arrival at the family firm in the early 1960s through to today's winery that boasts a range of globally identifiable brands including Viña Sol, Sangre de Toro, Mas La Plana, Viña Esmeralda, Fransola, and more.
"Through his memoirs, Torres intertwines family history, winemaking innovation, commercial expansion, the recovery of ancestral varieties, and an early environmental awareness that has made him one of the most insistent voices against climate change in the industry," said national newspaper ABC on Monday.
The octagenarian (he was born in Vilafranca del Penedès in 1941) also pays tribute to his wife Waltraud Maczassek, who was also responsible for the company's German exports for 25 years.
The book was also a reminder that, in some cases, Torres' brands pre-date him.
“While the Coronas brand existed since my grandfather Joan’s time, it was my father who created the great traditional brands of the house," he says in the book (quoted in Catalan gastronomic publication Cuina). "This is how Viña Sol was born, as well as the De Casta rosé and, most important of all, Sangre de Toro. The Torres 5 and Torres 10 brandies had existed since the 1940s."
Maule threatened by climate change
The major Chilean winegrowing region of Maule, which currently produces around 45 percent of the country's wines, is under threat from climate change, a recent study says.
According to Chilean online publication El Desconcierto, which highlighted the study this week, increased climate disruption is likely to shift viticulture further south, away from the likes of Maule and the already hot and dry Atacama in the north.
"The climate crisis would modify the map of wine production in Chile, shifting it towards the southern zone, mainly towards the Biobío and Ñuble regions," it said.
This appears to be the first popular coverage of the University of Chile study, entitled "Assessing Climate Risk in Viticulture: A Localized Index for the Semi-Arid and Mediterranean Regions of Chile" which was published last year in the applied science journal Agriculture.
"Municipalities located in mountainous areas with tundra and semi-arid climates – such as Atacama, Coquimbo, and Valparaíso regions – exhibited the highest levels of sensitivity [to climate change]," the study said. "This pattern is attributable to the vulnerability of mountainous semi-arid zones to late frosts and extreme weather events (e.g., heavy rainfall and snowfall), which increase the risk of landslides and slope instability."
While it concluded that in the current (2017–2024) climate, 31 percent of areas in the country given a "low" risk level classification with 56 percent classed as "medium" and 13 percent "high" risk, the outlook for a 20-year period starting in 20 years' time (from 2046 to 2065) was less rosy.
"In contrast, 63 percent of viticulture areas are expected to experience increased climate risk values, particularly in semi-arid and mediterranean regions, due to heightened climate exposure and sensitivity, due to the projected increase in temperatures and decrease in rainfall," it said.
Although the study pointed to increased irrigation and, more broadly, water infrastructure requirements in current winegrowing regions, it did anticipate a shift south in Chilean viticulture.
"Due to climate change, a shift in climate suitability is expected toward the southern part of the study area, where mediterranean and temperate climates currently predominate, thus creating new opportunities for the viticulture industry," it concluded.
