Low yields, high rewards: an insight into Southern France’s 2024 harvest

Although climatic difficulties have made the 2024 vintage challenging, Bijou, based in the south of France, has shared that its growers have still been able to harvest high quality grapes. It became clear earlier this year that France’s 2024 vintage was not necessarily going to be one that growers would look back upon with much fondness. According to figures from the French government’s agricultural statistics department, Agreste, released as harvesting was taking place, the country’s overall wine production would be 18% down on that of 2023, falling to around 39.3 million hectolitres. However, producers, such as Bijou, whose partner growers harvest across the Languedoc and Provence, have adapted to the crisis. Bijou brand manager Emily West suggested that the 2024 harvest has been one of “turning challenges into opportunities”. “The climate has been particularly testing with both severe drought and intense rainfall and humidity. For our growers, La Haute Valleé de l’Aude has been ...