We participated in the earliest harvest in France

Mercury increasing and warm atmosphere, near the departmental road 617, leading from Perpignan to Canet-en-Roussillon, in the Pyrénées-Orientales. In addition, It is here that the Lafage Domaine team kicks off the earliest harvest in France. Consequently, in a contagious good humor, which cannot overshadow the environmental challenge. Similarly, “It’s a unifying moment”introduces Jean-Marc Lafage, after having parked his mehari near the ranks of small grain muscat. Consequently, The owner of the domain proudly sports his brand new T-shirt. In addition, flocked with the 2025 vintage, carried by all of its employees. Furthermore, He is not asked to put on a carrier hood. we participated earliest harvest france Meanwhile, just to motivate his troops, but also to pose for the local press who came to immortalize the event.

After three years of drought, the Department – the driest in France – is once again used as a setting for the first harvest of the season. Similarly, Each year, the maturity of the berries seems to have a little earlier. Additionally, Similarly, This summer, the estate picks its first grapes from August 5. Consequently, In 2022, the harvest was launched even earlier on July 25. For example, Despite this worrying situation, everything is not black for the Lafage estate. Similarly, Already because this producer. However, one of the most important in the region, has resources and puts the package on research and development (R&D). Therefore, Then, because this news offers a nice we participated earliest harvest france spotlight. For example, Located at Mas Miraflors. Meanwhile, the old Catalan building dating from the 15th century which houses the estate, welcomes thousands of tourists, on the way to the beaches of the Catalan coast.

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An increasingly worrying climate context

No idleness that day for the author of these lines which. Similarly, mobilized within the team of pickers, will spend the morning playing the pruning sheer, while trying to avoid the field of the local news. This immersive experience will have allowed us to see the creativity. determination of winegrowers in the face of climate change. Contacted by telephone. the day before, Jean-Christophe Bourquin, president of the Interprofessional Council of Wines of Roussillon (CIVR), had warned us: “The farmer is very resilient. But the situation is difficult. We have been in water deficit for four years. The yields have dropped and the prices of the we participated earliest harvest france wine have not increased for twenty years. It is necessary to facilitate access to water because today only 5 % of our vineyard is irrigated. ”

The joy of the first day of harvest does not hide the emergency situation. Last June, an unprecedented heat wave fell on the department, alerting the producers, anxious not to let their berries overwhelm. The era of natural mild wines belongs to the past. The harvested muscat is now used to produce fresh whites. to drink as an aperitif, hence the advantage of going to seek the maximum of freshness. “During the growth phase. the whole point is to let the vine go up a bit, while keeping the maximum water for the berries, explains Pierre Audouard, the stage manager, between two discharges of muscat buckets in the we participated earliest harvest france bucket. The plant is increasingly exposed to sunburn. In recent years, we have started to undergo winter droughts. It’s something new. Faced with climate change, we serve as a laboratory for the rest of France … “

Georgian, Portuguese and Italian grape varieties

Drought, rise in temperatures, early harvesting … The winegrowers of the Pyrénées-Orientales would go well with all these records. other superlatives, which are added to the long list of challenges that the sector must meet, such as the drop in demand. It is noon when you find yourself cool, at the cellar, with Eliane Lafage. The oenologist and co -owner of the domain tastes the first juice of muscat. Optimism is in order for this vintage: unlike the last three years. it has rained at the end of winter and early spring. So. after this early launch, we tell ourselves that it will be we participated earliest harvest france better to lift the foot, to continue the harvest in the drop. Sitting behind his office, Jean-Marc Lafage affirms it bluntly, “Our number one challenge is to find acidity ”. “For this, the floors must live better. Regenerative culture that we practice encourages to cut the grape before. We thus obtain fresher wines, which meet market demand. In parallel, we are studying grape varieties resistant to diseases, drought and those who have genetics promoting acidity. ”

While waiting to receive water from the Rhône, or to facilitate access to existing resources, winegrowers do as best as possible. Only large farms can invest in R&D. A week after the official launch of the harvest. it is the team of Antoine Lespès, the young R&D manager precisely, that we find in the middle of a micro-harvest. The opportunity we participated earliest harvest france to screw the cap once again on the head. to pick this time from the Marselan, grape variety from the mixture between Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon. “What is advocated is conservation irrigation. It is not a question of increasing the yield. but of preserving the conditions of the vine in the face of climate change ”Lespès analysis, encountered a year earlier in Algeco which houses its experiments around Biochar, this solution based on coal which contributes to water retention.

Read too How do the winegrowers set the date of the start of the harvest?

Lespès is also the guardian of the experimental grape varieties of the domain (which claims 40 in all): a grenache resistant to mildew. the Georgian sapravi, the Nacional Touriga of Douro or the Italian Montepulciano. So many dry climates grapes, planted on a little more than one hectare each. Beyond we participated earliest harvest france the symbolic shock of early harvest. part of the researchers agree around a method allowing to pick early and well, without encroaching on the complexity of the grapes, nor its phenolic maturity. This is notably defends Alain Deloire, former professor at the Sup Agro school in Montpellier. “By operating by sequential harvest. by mobilizing science to determine aromatic windows, from fresh fruit to ripe fruit, we avoid dehydration of berries and we arrive at the best results”analyzes this specialist in water management and water stress in the vineyard. What give hope to the winegrowers of the driest department in France. ready to fight in the face of climate change.