Wildfire Smoke Threatens Quality of France's Bordeaux Wine

A massive wildfire in southwestern France has put the Bordeaux wine production industry on high alert just ahead of the grape harvest.

The British daily Financial Times (FT) reported on the 30th local time that as the wildfire approaches near Bordeaux vineyards, concerns are growing over damage caused by flames and smoke.

Séverine Bonnie of Château Malartic-Lagravière, a famous Bordeaux winery located about 10 kilometers away from the wildfire outbreak area, said, "The situation remains unstable, so we cannot let our guard down."

The wildfire started about a week ago in the Gironde department of southwestern France, and the damage spread due to strong winds.

Although the recent spread has subsided, firefighting authorities are continuing their containment efforts as reignitions occur in various places.

The wine industry is worried that the wildfire, which has spread to the outskirts of Bordeaux, could degrade the quality of the wine.

The concern is that if grapevine plants are exposed to smoke, the quality of the grapes can deteriorate.

According to experts, if smoke components from burnt wood are absorbed into the grape skins, a smoky or ash-like odor can develop during the fermentation and aging processes.

Éric Serrano, a researcher at the French Institute of Vine and Wine (IFV), explained, "Even if there is no smoke smell at first, a chimney-like odor can appear during fermentation or aging," describing it as "a kind of time bomb."

In the case of Napa Valley in California, USA, a significant number of wineries gave up releasing that year's vintage due to smoke damage from the 2020 wildfires.

The Provence region, famous for producing rosé wine, has already suffered considerable wildfire damage.

Representatives of Domaine de la Mercadine, a famous winery in the region, stated that 14 hectares out of their total 18 hectares of vineyards were burned, and that if smoke components are detected, they may have to abandon the harvest altogether.

The FT reported that such wildfire damage is dealing a double blow to the wine industry, which is already struggling due to a recent decline in wine consumption.

From August 2023 to May of this year, about 21,000 hectares of vineyards were pulled up in the Gironde region to cope with the decrease in wine demand.

In addition, due to lower consumer demand, the market value of fine Bordeaux wine has dropped by about 20% over the past five years.
 
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.