Sawt Falasteen - Champagne makers cut harvest as global outlook fizzles out

The marketable yield limit for the 2025 harvest has been set at 9,000 kilos per hectare, down from 10,000 kilos per hectare last year, the Comite Champagne said.

The new target, one of the lowest in years, comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on French wine and spirits.

"Thanks to generally mild weather conditions, the vines have benefited from an environment conducive to their development," the Comite Champagne said in a statement.

However, "geopolitical and economic instability, combined with increasingly volatile consumer behaviour, makes forecasts more complex."

Although champagne sales "are relatively stable," the economic uncertainty "is prompting the industry to exercise caution", said the association, which represents 16,000 winegrowers and 350 champagne houses.

In 2024, the marketable yield was set at 10,000 kilos per hectare to take into account declining sales, down from 11,400 kilos per hectare in 2023.

During a meeting to prepare for the harvest in mid-July, local prefect Henri Prevost indicated that around 120,000 people were expected to take part in the grape harvest in the Champagne wine region in the northeast of France.

The harvest is expected to begin between August 20 and August 25.

On Monday, a French court jailed three people for human trafficking in the champagne industry, exploiting seasonal workers and housing them in appalling conditions.

The Champagne region is under tough scrutiny, with another inquiry looking into the use of Ukrainians during the same 2023 harvest, which was marked by exceptional heat and the death of four grape pickers.

"We saw contractors who sometimes recruited grape pickers at the last minute, and organisations that were set up and disappeared very quickly," Prevost said.

"Today, a lot of work has been done to structure this profession and ensure that working conditions and standards are respected."

R.AbuNasser--SF-PST