(26 Aug 2022)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4394223
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Léognan – 23 August 2022
1. Close of grape picker cutting bunch off vine
HEADLINE: French vintners starts harvest early amid drought
2. Mid of grape picker between rows of vines
3. Close of bucket filled with grapes
ANNOTATION: Severe drought and climate change are encroaching on the prestigious vineyards of Bordeaux.
4. Wide of grape carrier emptying shoulder basket into trailer
ANNOTATION: The harvest that usually starts in mid-September is this year happening earlier than ever in one of France’s most celebrated wine regions.
5. Mid of winery employees sorting grapes on conveyor belt
6. Close of hands of employees sorting grapes
ANNOTATION: Vintners started picking grapes in mid-August
7. Mid of Chateau Carbonnieux sign outside main building
ANNOTATION: And with the changing cycle comes new risks.
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Éric Perrin, co-owner of Chateau Carbonnieux estate:
“For example, if the vine starts its cycle earlier, we’re at risk of facing frost episodes. I remember we had frost in 1991, but we had none between 1991 and 2017. And then, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. Because of global warming, nature’s cycle starts earlier and it exposes us to many more risks. When you look at extreme natural events we had, in Bordeaux, at the end of June, unbelievably violent hail storms.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Martillac – 22 August 2022
9. Wide of Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte estate with workers watering young vines
10. Mid of worker watering vine
ANNOTATION: Producers across Europe who have seen first-hand the effects of global warming are worried about what more is to come.
11. Pan of workers behind tractor watering vines
STORYLINE:
The landscape in the prestigious vineyards of Bordeaux looks the same as ever, with healthy, ripe grapes hanging heavy off rows of green vines.
But this year, something is starkly different in one of France’s most celebrated wine regions.
The harvest of the grapes used to start in mid-September.
But this time, it is happening earlier than ever – in mid-August – as a result of the severe drought and the industry’s adaptation to the unpredictable effects of climate change.
Paradoxically, the season of heat waves and wildfires produced excellent grapes, despite lower yields.
But achieving such a harvest required creative changes in growing techniques, including pruning vines in a different way and sometimes watering them in places where irrigation is usually banned.
Those practices were developed amid a series of heat waves, combined with lack of rain or devastating forest fires which affected most of Europe.
Fabien Teitgen is the technical director of Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte, an estate that grows organic wine grapes in Martillac, south of Bordeaux.
He has seen first-hand the effects of global warming and is worried about what more is to come.
As the harvest unfolds south of Bordeaux, dozens of workers kneel in the vineyards to hand-pick grapes and put them into baskets.
The fruit is immediately crushed to make juice, which is put into tanks, then barrels to start the wine production process.
The harvest aims to produce the first white wine from the famous Pessac-Léognan appellation and red wine will soon follow.In the Bordeaux region, as in most of France, it did not rain between the end of June and mid-August.
This year’s vintage may be better than ever, experts say, because the grapes are healthy and well-balanced.
The hot, dry weather also prevented the vines from getting diseases such as mildew.
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