The vineyards in France are in danger because of the late spring frost that could destroy them. Winegrowers warned that the French vineyards in Champagne and Burgundy will hurt the harvest season if the spring frost would last.
Fédération nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles (FNSEA) spokesman Jerome Despey told AFP that the spring frostbite is really tricky. He added that the time the late spring frost arrived, that is when the grapes in the vineyars were just forming.
Currently, the cold snap has the temperatures as low as minus six degrees Celcius or 21.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Despey has also said that the temperature has already affected the vineyards in the Loire Valley and Languedoc-Roussillion in the deep south.
This is not the first time that vineyards in France experience this. Burgundy, known as the source of the favorite Chablis wines, had a similar freeze on the previous year.
A lot of winegrowers are currently trying to limit the damage by using heaters on their vineyards. Another way is the traditional method of setting out drums on oil with a fire burning in them among the vines.
Stephane Aufrere, a vintner in the Chablis region, said that it has been two nights in a row already that they have been up at midnight just to check the temperatures on the vineyards. She said that they light the fires as soon as the mercury drops to zero on a wet say and minus 2.5 if the weather's dry.
They are still very careful with this method, though. They are only deploying the fires on a small section of the 20-hectare or 50-acre vineyard because of monetary concerns.
Jean-Charles Tissot, chairman of the local wine marketing council, said that the spring frost could hurt the harvest of vineyards in the eastern Jura region. The region is known for their sherry-like vin jaune.
He said that the damage of this cold snap could reach 40 to 50 percent of their harvest. This is a huge damage for the harvest of vineyards.
Other people use water sprinklers on the vineyards, allowing a fine coating of ice to form on vines. This could also keep them from freezing through.
