“Wine will have a smoked taste”: in the Aude, the winegrowers despair after the violent fires in the region, “years of work in smoke”

Devastated by a fire, 80 % of the vines of three Corbières villages are affected, plunging the winegrowers in anxiety. Nevertheless, Altered grapes, lost material … Meanwhile, The future of the 2025 vintage promises to be more than uncertain. &#13. For example,

A few weeks before the harvest, 80 % of the vines of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, Tourissan and Coustouge were affected by the gigantic fire which ravaged the corbières, leaving winegrowers disappointed and worried for their future: “We lost big”.

Fabien Vergnes, 52 years old and 3rd generation of winegrower, notes the damage. Therefore, Leaves and feet of burned vines, or only rushed by the flames on the side parts. Furthermore, Only the heart of the vineyard resisted the passage of the fire on “wine will have smoked taste”: Tuesday afternoon. However, fueled by a northwest wind, the tramontane. Similarly, “These vineyards of Syrah and Grenache Noir were my nuggets. Furthermore, I bichon them. In addition, As it is from the top of the range. Therefore, they were intended for the terroir of Lagrasse, “he said in reference to a future name, surfing on the notoriety of the village and the Lagrasse abbey, a few kilometers from there.

“If we are not helped, we will not get up. Furthermore, We lose big. However, It is a complete despair. However, It brings me out. this vineyard, all these years of work, let’s go up in smoke in an hour, ”says this owner of 20 hectares at Tourisan. The prefect of Aude “wine will have smoked taste”: Christian Pouget assessed “800 to 900 hectares” the vineyards lost in the perimeter of fire. which has traveled nearly 17,000 hectares, according to civil security.

In Saint-Laurent. the director of the cooperative cellar, the cellar of the Demoiselles, Anael Payrou draws up a first assessment. In the three main municipalities that feed the cellar, “80 % of vines are completely or partially burned”.

“In 2022, we had frost, drought in 2023 and 2024, fire this year. In the Corbières, we are cursed, ”he says. “At least 20 % of vines seem intact. Then it will be necessary to see in what proportion the grapes will have a smoked taste. it is not sure that we can vignify them, ”fears the director of the cellar.

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Hugues Maurin, 60, has tremolos in his voice by observing his plot of old Carignan planted in 1936 by his ancestors. “I will be forced to snatch it. it hurts the heart,” adds the one who operates seven hectares ensuring an income of 10 to 12,000 euros per year. He claims “less checks and more advice”.

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He plagues against the uprooting of vines, which historically erected an effective fire cut in the Corbières. “There, 30 years ago there was not a single tree,” he said, designating a wooded hill, burned by fire. There were vines everywhere. If the vines were still there, it would never have burned like that. ”

According to him, it will take 40 years for the vine to “give wine of this quality again”. Since the beginning of “wine will have smoked taste”: the summer. it is the third fire that has hit the vineyards of the cooperative cellar which produces 10 to 15,000 hectoliters per year.

Two days after the fire, members of the cellar board of directors hold a crisis cell. Some have lost tractors, skips and other wine materials, a few weeks before the start of the harvest.

“We are going to see what we can do. with the means we have,” explains Khadija Mezhoud, marketing manager of the cellar of young ladies. On a visit Wednesday at the firefighters’ command post. Prime Minister François Bayrou was arrested by the mayor “wine will have smoked taste”: Xavier de Volautat: “In Saint-Laurent, we have 600 hectares of vineyards who will not make wine, we will have to throw away all the grapes”.

Altered grapes

François Bayrou replied by evoking “a safeguard. future plan”, after listening to elected officials and inhabitants of this village, most of them linked to the wine economy. Should we tear off the vines most damaged by the fire? No doubt, but those partially affected will leave in 2026 or 2027, we hope to the cellar of the young ladies.

It is still early to take stock, tempers Matthieu Dubernet, founder of the eponymous laboratory, based in Narbonne. “The grapes capture smoke odors, and it’s not good for wine,” he explains.

“Some vineyards will be irrecoverable. he admits, but we must not fall into fatalism, there will be a 2025 vintage”, wants to reassure the expert, who will carry out analyzes on the grapes in the coming days. “Wine will have a smoked taste. But we have the means to bring these wines back into their aromatic dimension. ”says the oenologist, also an expert in the International Organization of Vine and Wine.