PARIS (Reuters) -Wine production in France is set to rebound by at least 10% this year from weather-hit 2024 output, though the recovery will be curbed by the loss of some vines in southwest France under an industry restructuring programme, the farm ministry said.
France, which vies with Italy and Spain for the position of the world’s largest wine producer, is expected to produce between 40 million and 42.5 million hectolitres this year, representing a 10%-17% increase from 2024, the ministry said on Friday in its initial outlook for 2025 output.
The forecast production range was slightly below an average level of 42.9 million hectolitres for the past five years, it said. A hectolitre is the equivalent of about 133 standard wine bottles.
“In 2025, weather conditions have been more favourable. The dry, hot start to summer helped reduce disease pressure,” the ministry said in a report, adding that grape harvesting could see an earlier than usual start in many regions.
Last year, torrential rain hurt vineyards like other farmland, and the soggy conditions fuelled grape disease.
This year’s rise in output could be particularly sharp in the Burgundy, Champagne, Loire Valley and Charentes regions. But in southwestern zones like Bordeaux and Languedoc-Roussillon the rebound will be capped by the uprooting of some vines, with over 20,000 hectares removed in the southwest since 2024, it said.
The government has subsidised the removal of vines to counter oversupply in the face of falling wine consumption, an approach criticised by some producers for making southern areas more vulnerable to wildfires, as in a huge blaze in the Aude region this week.
The farm ministry’s estimates were as of August 1. They will be updated in early September.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz; editing by David Goodman and Mark Heinrich)
