French winemakers see earliest harvest since 1556, as climate change ‘alters taste of wine’

Accelerated warming trend over the last 30 years is also making wine stronger, as Anthony Cuthbertson reports from Burgundy, France

A worker carries a wicker basket full of grapes during the harvest at the Corton-Charlemagne vineyard in Burgundy, France (AFP/Getty)

A succession of heatwaves and extreme weather conditions have forced French winemakers to undertake the earliest grape harvest in nearly 500 years.

Vineyards in Burgundy scrambled to organise grape picking after abnormally hot and dry conditions brought the fruit to maturity more than a month earlier than average years, according to local records.

In what was the joint earliest harvest since records began in 1371, 2020’s crop equalled the 16 August harvest date from 1556. It follows a trend in recent years of increasingly early harvests, which are drastically altering the taste – and even the strength – of the wine produced.