UK Edition
Thieves steal tonnes of premium Bordeaux grapes, as French winegrowers face disastrous harvest
The theft of at least seven tonnes of grapes from premium Bordeaux vineyards has alarmed winegrowers facing a disastrously poor harvest following bad weather.
Four vineyards have lost enormous quantities of grapes —and even whole vines — to thieves who strike at night and are believed to be professional vintners themselves, police said.
Philippe Bardet of the Bordeaux Wine Council said: “The harvest is dire this year so given the shortage of grapes, the temptation to help yourself from the vineyard next door is very strong. Everyone’s in distress and in some places, there’s a poisonous atmosphere of envy and jealousy.”
About 6.5 tonnes of grapes disappeared in a single night from a small vineyard in Génissac, near the prestigious Saint-Emilion region. Denis Barraud, the winegrower, estimated his loss at more than £30,000.
“The grapes were picked by hand in an isolated part of our land. There’s nothing left. It’s been stripped bare.”
Up to 700 kilos of grapes were stolen from an estate in Pomerol, an area that is also home to the top-rated Château Pétrus. Grape robbers have also struck in the neighbouring Lalande-de-Pomerol area, and 500 wines were ripped up in nearby Montagne-Saint-Emilion.
Police are stepping up vineyard patrols, especially at night. A spokesman for the local gendarmerie said: “We’re well aware that some producers feel their livelihoods may be threatened and could resort to theft to stay in business.”
Grape thefts are not a new phenomenon, he added, “but this year thefts are escalating because so many growers are in trouble.”
France faces its worst wine harvest since 1945 after an unusually mild March followed by frost and hail in April that ravaged the fragile shots and buds which had emerged prematurely. Last year’s harvest was also one of the poorest in 30 years.
Production this year could be as much as 20 per cent below average, experts fear. According to the French agriculture ministry, wine output is expected to total 37.2 million hectolitres (818m gallons), 18 per cent less than 2016 and 17 per cent below average annual production over the past five years.
Winemakers called in helicopters, set up giant heaters and fans, with rows of flaming torches and fires in oil drums as they desperately attempted to save their vines from the April frosts. Bordeaux was particularly badly hit.
Some vineyards have lost half their crop and the government has announced a range of measures aimed at helping them survive. Tax payments and national insurance contributions are being postponed and the state is lobbying banks and insurers to show flexibility.
Many winemakers are also counting on unused reserve stocks from last year under a national scheme designed to compensate for a poor harvest by allowing the blending of production from two different years, still sold as a single year’s output.
But most vintners are not insured. Those worst hit are bulk producers who have already sold last year’s wine and keep no reserves.
Everyday Bordeaux wines, priced at £10 to £20, are likely to become more expensive because of the fall in supply, but higher-quality clarets will hardly be affected, according to Neil Deacon, an expert and founder of the wine-tasting events company Vintwined.
“The frost hit some parts of the Bordeaux region worse than others. Some areas lost 90 to 100 per cent of their production, but others were unscathed. Most of the high-end vineyards in places like Médoc weren’t affected too much so there won’t be a lot of difference in terms of supply or prices, but the lower end was very badly hit and that’s where prices are going to go up," Mr Deacon said.
Bordeaux producers are increasingly concerned about the impact of climate change on the quality of their wines, which depend on temperature, rainfall and local soils for their distinctive characteristics.