Burgundy Wine Region Hit by Hail That Trashes Pommard and Volnay

(Bloomberg) - France’s Burgundy wine region was hit by storms yesterday that damaged as much as 90 percent of vines in growing areas including Pommard and Volnay.

Strong winds, rain and hail around 4 p.m. local time ripped leaves from vines and caused grapes to burst, Cecile Mathiaud, spokeswoman for the Burgundy Wine Board, said today by phone. Some vineyards were hit by flooding, she said, adding that it’s too soon to predict the effect on the grape harvest.

“If you see the state of some plots, you can say it was violent,” Mathiaud said. “If the grapes burst open, you can’t harvest. If leaves are damaged, it depends how many remained to protect the grapes.”

The Cote de Beaune area from Meursault in Burgundy’s south to Savigny-les-Beaune in the north suffered damage, Mathiaud said. The region has France’s most expensive wine real estate, with some grand cru properties fetching 3.8 million euros ($5 million) a hectare (2.47 acres), Agriculture Ministry data show.

The ministry this month forecast Burgundy and Beaujolais appellation wine volume would jump 34 percent to 2.31 million hectolitres (61 million gallons), recovering from a drop last year caused by late frost, hail, disease and poor fruit set.

Pommard and northern neighbor Beaune were the worst-hit appellations, according to the spokeswoman. Damage affected 30 percent to 70 percent of vines in southern Pommard and 70 percent to 90 percent in the north. In Beaune, 10 percent to 90 percent of vines were hurt, with no plot untouched, she said.