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How did August, one might say, the defining month for the 2025 vintage, go? The beginning of the harvest, a heat wave with temperatures sometimes reaching 40 degrees, American taxes… An article summarizing events in the world of wine in August.
The Impact of the heat in Summer 2025
Today, it is impossible to find a person who has not heard about global warming or climate change, which seems to be going from one extreme to another. Periods of stiflingly hot temperatures in Europe are becoming more frequent, accompanied by extreme precipitation in the form of thunderstorms and hail. Drought and heat have affected many wine regions, from North Africa to Australia, in this review we will focus on France.
How can climate change affect winemaking and wine?
- Grape harvest dates to earlier
- Berries need to be protected from sunlight
- Water stress
- More sugar in the grapes means higher alcohol content in the wine
- Reducing the acidity of the wine
- Changing the aroma of the wine from fresh fruit to jam
During the week of heat, the grapes gained an average of 2% more potential alcohol, which means that winemakers need to hurry with the harvest of white varieties before the berries lose acidity and red ones, destined for rosé wines for the same reason. In addition, thunderstorms and showers that follow the heat can swell the berries too quickly, even breaking the skin, which means the risk of mold.
Comparing the harvest volume in 2025 with 2024, French winemakers produced 14% more overall, thanks to a more favorable sanitary situation (less mildew, downy mildew and gray mold), but 4% less than the average of the last five years due to the campaign to uproot vineyards.
Let’s walk through the French wine regions during the harvest.
Chablis: Compared to 2024, 2025 was much better here. Thanks to the dry and hot weather, the vines produced fairly full bunches without signs of attack by mildew, which, due to the humidity, destroyed most of the harvest in 2024. In 2025, the fungus was unable to develop due to dryness – the bunches were threatened by so-called scorch: when the grapes are exposed to direct sunlight, which dries and burns the berries.
Champagne: Champagne winemakers describe 2025 as a very successful year, but early due to high temperatures in August and the rapid accumulation of sugar in the berries (which means a higher alcohol level in the future wine, which should be avoided in order to obtain the airiness and refreshing style of sparkling wine). But thanks to the same heat, the grapes were spared from mildew, so the bunches are in excellent sanitary condition. As for the organoleptic profile, the acidity of the grapes remained at a sufficient level, and the aromas developed harmoniously, so “winemakers can reap the fruits of a whole year of work with confidence and calm” (David Chatillon, co-president of the Champagne Committee). The start dates of the grape harvest in Champagne vary by commune and variety (the earliest date in 2025 is August 20, the latest is September 4), but in general they are earlier than last year for the region.
Alsace: The Crémant grape harvest opened on August 19, 10 days earlier than in 2024. Overall, 2025 was also a good year for Alsace, thanks to a warm spring that helped the grapes start early, flowering and setting in dry, warm weather in June, followed by July rains that hydrated the grapes, and the August heat that helped sugars accumulate quickly (2% potential alcohol per week, compared to the usual 1.2%).
Loire Valley: The Crémant grape harvest began three weeks earlier than in 2024. The sanitary situation in the vineyards was also quite favorable – some regions did not register any diseases on the vines at all, others – only small outbreaks that did not threaten the harvest. In the Center of the Loire and Anjou Samur – the same situation: virtually no diseases, good volume, somewhat reduced due to drought, earlier harvest.
Bordeaux: the region once again confirms the legend of exceptional vintages, multiples of five. The warm but humid beginning of spring gave way to heat and dryness in May, and then in the summer, with short breaks for showers, sometimes hail. In August, the region experienced a hot and dry period with temperatures above 40 degrees in some parts. As a result, the vines stopped developing the green part (leaves, etc.) quite early, and concentrated on ripening the berries, which would not be hindered by additional precipitation. At the moment, 2025 is expected to be a very successful year, but September-October can still change everything. And, as in other regions, the grape harvest in Bordeaux began earlier than usual.
Burgundy in general: the 2025 vintage is also much more successful than 2024 – almost no mildew, the grapes are in excellent sanitary condition thanks to the warm weather and dry wind. As in other regions of France – earlier harvest and harvest volumes, somewhat reduced by drought and water stress, due to which the grapes did not gain enough juice. The heat accelerated the ripening of the grapes, but the acidity remained at a good level.
South of France: the first to begin harvesting was the Fitou region – the first bunches of Muscat were cut here already on August 1 (which is not a record for the Languedoc region, since grapes were once harvested here on July 25). It should be noted that this Muscat is intended for wine with a low alcohol content – 9%, so here it is not so much the accelerated harvest due to the heat, but the desire to obtain a wine of a certain style. In Provence, the harvest has already been collected since August 12.
In general, France is expected to have a good quality harvest and a successful year for the wine industry, despite the decrease in harvest volume due to heat and lack of rain.
Château Lafleur in Pomerol quits its famous appellation and even the appellation of Bordeaux
Perhaps one of the most surprising events since the time when the famous Châteaux Ausone and Cheval Blanc decided not to apply for the highest Premier Cru Classé A status (for a reminder, the Cru Saint-Emilion classification is set for 10 years, and the chateaus must reapply for this status after this period).
The owners of Château Lafleur, an equally famous neighbor of the legendary Petrus, have decided to leave not only the Pomerol appellation, but even the general Bordeaux appellation since 2025, in order to have access to a wider range of winemaking practices and grape varieties. According to the owners of the Château, the Guinaudeau family, “the climate is changing so rapidly and radically that we must react and adapt quickly. Our approach to vineyard management is changing faster than the appellation specifications.”
For the Guinaudeau family, 2015, 2019 and 2022 have already shown the need to think about the future and the survival of their vineyards. The final decision to leave the Bordeaux appellation in order to have more freedom in winemaking and viticulture technologies and thus preserve the style of wines was made in 2025, which broke all records.
Devastating fires in the south of France
While the heat and lack of precipitation became a favorable phenomenon for vineyards closer to the north of France, in the south of the country they turned into a natural disaster. On August 5, 15 communes in the Aude department were engulfed in a devastating fire that destroyed 16,000 hectares of vegetation (11,000 hectares of forest, 2,000 hectares of agricultural land, 1,500 hectares of vineyards), killing one person and injuring several others.
Winemakers in the Corbières appellation, which was significantly affected by the fire and is part of the department, are counting the losses not only in terms of the number of vines burned. The smoke that enveloped the already ripe and ready-to-harvest grapes will inevitably be absorbed by the berries and will give them an unpleasant taste and a burnt smell, which will be felt in the wine, making it unsuitable for sale and consumption.
According to Laboratoires Dubernet, the wine can be saved by using reverse osmosis and activated carbon purification, but one of the most devastating fires of the 21st century will leave its mark not only on the final production of the 2025 vintage of the Corbières region but also on its economy, which is affected by the wine crisis.
The gravity of the situation brought the French Prime Minister François Bayrou to the region the day after the fires to (once again) state the emergency and discuss a solution, including state aid. However, even the most famous and emblematic winemakers of Languedoc have failed to convince successive ministers of agriculture and prime ministers over the years that the current climate, droughts and lack of water are a matter of life and death for the region’s wine industry. Particularly acute is the question of allowing rainwater to be collected and used to irrigate the vineyards if necessary. A question that requires only an exception to the rules and specifications of the region. In French wine regions, vineyards cannot be irrigated, except in the first years after planting for better growth and rooting (and then only if necessary). But the water that falls in the form of showers in the southern regions (specific features of the local climate) flows in such a powerful stream that it simply does not have time to be absorbed into the soil. In other words, the rain fell, but for the soil it was as if it had not happened. Winemakers in Languedoc are asking for the permission to irrigate with this type of water (and not from the tap), which could well water the vineyards if it were supplied more evenly. It should be noted that due to climate change, such showers and floods have become more frequent and powerful, which should have been a signal for permission to irrigate in the region. But this has not been done so far.
American duties
Another blow to the French wine industry was the introduction of duties on imported products from Europe by American President Donald Trump. Winemakers had hoped that alcoholic beverages would not be included in the list, but negotiations between the EU and the US have failed, and an additional 15% has been added to the existing 15% surcharge due to the conversion of euros into dollars, meaning that European products will cost 30% more in the US than in Europe.
What does this mean for the industry? The US is the largest importer of wine and spirits from Europe: in 2024, alcohol worth 8 billion euros was exported, of which 5 billion was wine (and 2.4 billion was French wine alone). For France, the US is the largest market for wine exports, and the introduction of duties could mean a 25% reduction in sales. And in the context of the current difficulties, a decrease in exports will hit the already shaky balance of the wine industry. And if this topic is developed further, the losers will be and the Americans themselves: the decline in exports will affect port employment, will entail job losses, lower profits and even the closure of wine boutiques specializing in European wines (not to mention the fact that wine consumption by the population is generally declining). In general, there may be an imbalance in the system of import and distribution of wines in the USA. But, theoretically, the rise in the price of European wines will benefit American wines, which will be in greater demand.
Sources:
La Revue du Vin de France : www.larvf.com
Vitisphere : www.vitisphere.com
SudOuest : sudouest.fr
