The 2021 Frost Could Impact Harvest, Distribution and What You Pay for French Wine
Getty When frosts arrived in French vineyards the week of April 5, initial reports suggested the entire 2021 vintage would be destroyed. Fortunately, it’s not as bad as that. Overall, in France, about 30% of the 2021 crop was destroyed, according to still-early government estimates. Smaller but similar hits were reported in Italy, Germany and Spain. It’s possible a second, smaller crop will appear on some French vines, but frost will affect the 2021 and 2022 vintages. Some vines in France hit by frost in 2017 or 2018 were just beginning to recover. Now, two weeks after the frost, the temp...