Burgundy Hail Damage May Cut Vintage by 4 Million Bottles

(Bloomberg) - The damage to Burgundy’s wine region from hail storms that pounded vineyards in villages including Pommard and Volnay last week may cut the 2013 vintage by as many as 4 million bottles, regional council estimates show.

Hail, floods and high winds damaged 1,350 hectares (3,336 acres) of vineyard in the Cote de Beaune area that produces some of Burgundy’s most prized wine, council spokesman Benoit Chaumont said by phone today. Potential losses amount to about 15 percent of the 27 million bottles produced in Cote de Beaune in 2011, data from the Burgundy Wine Board show.

In Cote de Beaune, vineyards from Meursault in the south to Savigny-les-Beaune in the north were damaged by thunderstorms and hail on July 24, according to the board. The potential production loss is as much as 30,000 hectoliters (792,520 gallons), Chaumont said.

“The premier crus were hit, that’s for sure,” Chaumont said. “As far as I know, no grand crus were affected.”

In the north of Pommard, 70 percent to 90 percent of vines were damaged, while 30 percent to 70 percent suffered in southern Pommard and neighboring Volnay.

Burgundy production fell last year on a combination of late frost, hail, disease and poor fruit set. The region has France’s most expensive wine real estate, with some grand cru properties fetching 3.8 million euros ($5 million) a hectare, according to the Agriculture Ministry.