French wine harvest estimated at 35 million hectolitres, 14 percent below average

France's total wine harvest is estimated at around 35 million hectolitres (100 litres each), down 2 percent on 2025 and 14 percent below the 2021–2025 average, according to estimates published on 7 October by the ministry of agriculture. France 24 reported that a series of summer heatwaves hit the wine industry. According to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), which tracks global statistics on wine production and consumption, France had already recorded its lowest production since 1957 in 2025.

France 24 reported the decline is due not only to hot weather, which it said was slightly mitigated by recent rainfall, but also to a reduction in cultivated areas, pared back 1.9 percent in the past year. The ministry and the industry emphasised the "excellent health" of the harvest, free of fungi and other moisture-related diseases, according to France 24.

Regional figures differ widely. In Bordeaux, production is set to rise 10 percent on 2025 despite a 5 percent decrease in cultivated areas, though it remains 11 percent below the 2021–2025 average. In the southwest, the rise is around 12 percent, essentially a return to the previous four-year average. In Burgundy and the Beaujolais region, production is projected to be 30 percent lower than the five-year average.

In Champagne, France 24 reported that growers had to harvest exceptionally early after extreme heat sped sugar buildup in the grapes, and hence natural alcohol production. The harvest there ended in September for the first time, with production down by half on 2025 and the five-year average. Producer Claude Mandois said he harvested three-quarters of an average yield in terms of volume, adding: "in terms of quality visually and in terms of taste we had an exceptional harvest."

Jerome Despey, chairman of the wine advisory board at the public agency FranceAgriMer and a winegrower in the southern Herault department, said: "It's a level of heterogeneity I've never experienced before." He said that in the south, "we've seen that vines have been more resilient to the climate," with previous intense heat spells causing growers to adapt vineyard management practices such as largely leaving leaves to protect the grapes.