France is expected to see a 2025 wine harvest of around 37.4m hectolitres (mhl), said the country’s agriculture ministry today (9 September).
Heat and drought during August in several regions, especially Languedoc-Roussillon in the south and Alsace in the north-east, have dented a previous forecast of 40m to 42.5m hectolitres.
Yet it’s a mixed picture. Burgundy lovers can look forward to more wine being bottled from the 2025 vintage, compared to the small 2024 crop, with volumes expected to jump 45% year-on-year.
Winemakers in Jura should bounce back from a frost-hit 2024 vintage, with volumes soaring 200% in 2025 to 106mhl – 38% above the five-year average.
In the Loire, production was also expected to increase 26% on last year, despite localised hailstorms and drought.
Nationally, France’s 2025 wine harvest should be around 3% larger than 2024, but it will still be 13% below the country’s five-year average, said the agriculture ministry via its Agreste data service. Its report didn’t comment on likely wine quality.
Volumes in Alsace were likely to drop 11% year-on-year, while Languedoc-Rousillon should see a 5% drop in harvest volumes.
Drought has been an issue for winemakers in parts of Languedoc in recent years, but some producers in the Corbières faced a nightmare in August as France’s worst wildfire in more than 70 years affected vineyards and communities in the Aude department.
Bordeaux is likely to see a 2025 crop of similar overall size to last year, and around 15% down on the five-year average.
Early 2025 harvests and high hopes for quality
Early starts to harvest are a feature of the 2025 growing season.
St-Emilion heavyweight Château Troplong Mondot began picking grapes on 28 August, the earliest start date in its history. MD Aymeric de Gironde told Decanter the team had high hopes for quality, with conditions similar to 2022.
Alsace saw its earliest start to harvest on record, with grapes for appellation d’origine protégée (AOP) wines first picked on 25 August, said the agriculture ministry.
There was early optimism in the Rhône, where harvest began 10 days earlier than in 2024.
Volumes were still uncertain, according to the Inter Rhône trade body, but its president, Philippe Pellaton, said, ‘With this early, high-quality and balanced vintage, we are in an ideal position to manage the vintage and produce fine wines for 2025.’
Champagne’s harvest began ahead of the 10-year average. Maxime Toubart, co-president of the Comité Champagne regional body, raised hopes for the vintage by saying vineyards were in remarkable condition, according to France 24 / Agence France Presse.
Uprooting vineyards hits French wine production
Grubbing-up vineyards has also reduced potential volumes from France’s 2025 wine harvest.
More more than 20,000 hectares have been uprooted since last year’s harvest in Bordeaux, the south-west and Languedoc-Roussillon, said the ministry of agriculture’s report.
This includes 8,000ha in Bordeaux and more than 10,000ha in Languedoc-Roussillon, it said.
