Will Burgundy suffer from the lack of water ?

This year is no exception to the rule: the winter, abnormally mild and not very rainy, heralds a dry spring and then a dry summer. A phenomenon that worries winegrowers. What about Burgundy?

If the rains of this month of March were eagerly awaited, they will not be sufficient. Indeed, France is experiencing an extraordinary drought at the end of winter. The main indicator: the level of groundwater. The specialized site info-echeresse.fr indicates that in the country, a quarter of them are currently at an exceptionally low level. As in the Pyrénées-Orientales, where some winegrowers have gone so far as to ask the diocese for a mass to make the rain fall. Unfortunately, among these very water-deficient areas there is also wine-growing Burgundy.

The fear of a summer drought

If spring should unfold in a serene way for the vine, it is in summer that the lack of water should be felt. Meteorologist Serge Zaka, renowned for his predictions in the agricultural community, indicates on twitter that the drought could again do damage this summer
2023.

Thus, the vintage could undergo the same phenomena as 2022, 2020, 2011 or even 2003: an extremely dry summer, at the origin of wines that are certainly very good, but of increased mortality among the vines, as well as very poor yields. , undermining the cash flow of winegrowers.

2022 hottest year on record
“2022 is the hottest year on record since the turn of the 20th century. It is also the driest and sunniest”, warns the BIVB (Bureau interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne) in its latest summary. Thus, over the period from April to September, the interprofession notes “+ 1.4°C on temperatures, – 16% on precipitation and + 285 hours of sunshine” compared to normal.