Aude vineyards "annihilated" by recent hail storm
Wine producers in the Aude department of western Languedoc and in northern Roussillion are having to deal with the fallout of a massive hailstorm which hit their vineyards at the beginning of this month.
This comes after the region was badly affected by frost in the spring of 2017.
The recent storm, which saw hailstones up to 4cm in size hammering down on the region, fell for about 20 minutes on the vineyards of Limoux and La Malepere and damage is reported to be considerable. "Une catastrophe" is how wine producers are succinctly describing the devastation.
In the fifteen most affected areas, including Alaigne, Routier, Bellegarde du Razès and Lauraguel, between 70% to 100% of vines have been affected, according to producers.
A second hailstorm then occurred an hour later in the eastern part of the department, affecting around 3,000 ha of vineyards in the eastern and coastal part of the region. Corbières was also affected with losses in the region of 50%.
Aude Chamber of Agriculture has stated that 6,000 ha of vines in the deparment were affected to varying degrees. "Of the co-operative’s 3,000 ha under vine, 1,000 ha have been 100% devastated and another 1,000 ha have been between 50 and 80% affected’” said Razès co-operative chairman Gérard Guiraud “Only 200 ha were saved. This is an economic, technical and psychological trauma. We have members who have been wiped out.”
In some of the most badly affected regions, vines have been stripped of their leaves, and no green wood remains, with everything being destroyed. “It's not just this year's crop that has been annihilated, next year's crop will also be reduced," he said.