Frost damage in many European wine regions

There are increasing reports of frost damage to young vines from France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and South Tyrol. The onset of cold polar air is causing the shoots, which are already well advanced due to the very warm weather in March and April, to freeze. The danger is likely to persist for a few more nights. In France, the Bordeaux and Loire regions are literally trembling for their yields, and there has already been damage in central France.

According to a report in the Swiss daily newspaper “Blick”, the valley locations in Valais have been hit hard so far. In Germany, reports from winegrowers are piling up on social media. Particularly in Franconia, Rheinhessen and on the Moselle, Saar and Ruwer, where winegrower Florian Lauer**** speaks of damage to around 40 per cent of the growing area on Facebook. Radio Prague International reports similar figures for the Bohemian vineyards.

In Austria, the areas along the Danube are mainly affected. In the Kremstal, Kamptal, Wagram and Weinviertel wine-growing regions in particular, more than 1,000 hectares are likely to have suffered frost damage by Monday morning alone, as Rudolf Schmid from the Ministry of Agriculture reported in an interview. In the Wachau, the winegrower Franz-Josef Gritsch took moving pictures while the frost candles lit up Spitz an der Donau. This enabled him and his colleagues to save most of the vines in the valley vineyards. Nevertheless, there were also isolated cases of frostbite on the slopes, the extent of which is still difficult to assess. He estimates the costs for the use of frost candles at around 6,000 euros per hectare. In Styria, the cold and the massive snowfall on Tuesday caused an unknown amount of damage in the wine-growing areas, as orf.at writes. No major damage has yet been reported in Burgenland.