Frost 2016

La gelée noire... et la grêle blanche

April 13, 2016: violent hailstorm in Macon ... 1 500 hectares affected, with damage reported between 60 and 95% of crop loss ... not new, but unfortunately tragic for many farms ...

April 27, 2016: Dramatic frost
Three weeks have gone by and the consequences are easy to see but very hard to face ; of course, this refers to the frost damage which hit the Burgundy wine lands in the morning of 27 April.
Not one of our association members from the Chablis to the Macon regions was spared.
Some plots, which had never been known to be exposed to this risk, were hit this year because of the rainfall the night before which increased the effects; in fact the last time such a frost had occurred was in 1981.
The extent of the frost damage in the Burgundy area is estimated as follows:
*for 54% (15797 ha) between 0 and 30%
*for23% (6669 ha) between 30 and 70%
*for 23% approx (6784 ha) more than 70%
In those areas the most severely effected, the vegetation growth as a result is very slow and it is not easy to measure the impact on yield but the overall loss will be able to be evaluated according to the growth rate in each individual plot.
There will now be other matters to face: each vine plant will have to be monitored depending on the degree of frost damage or not, in order to assess how the grape harvest must be planned, most probably in several stages over a given period.

13 and 27 May 2016: violent hailstorm in Yonne.