An Expert’s Forecast on the 2024 Wines from Provence’s Vineyards

In 2024, France fell from first place among the largest wine-producing countries in 2023 to third place, behind Italy and Spain.

2024 Grape Growing Challenges in France

Throughout the 2024 season, the wine year in France has been problematic, with great variation across the country. It started with frost in the spring. Then, during the important flowering, the weather was cool and rainy, so the flowers were affected by coulure and millerandage. This caused the grains to fall off, producing fewer grapes and undeveloped seedless grapes.

Once the grapes had formed, hail storms came in many places that broke leaves and unripe fruit. Several of the last few years have been dry in France, but in 2024 the rainfall was abundant in many places. The season was warm and humid, the conditions when leaf mould mildew thrives. If the leaf mould is not treated, it can lead to lower yield and rot-damaged grapes. Paradoxically, southern Languedoc and Roussillon have been affected by severe drought for several years, and so has this year, which soon risks killing the vines.

In Provence’s Vineyards

Water

In Provence, 2022 was an extremely dry year, and it continued the same way for the first four months of 2023. Then came rains that filled the reservoirs and the thirsty soil, and 2023 saved the vines from severe water stress. Overall, 2022 and 2023 are characterized by extremely dry and dry years, respectively. But what about 2024? The precipitation for season 2024 is 20% above normal, so it can be considered a relatively rainy year.

Harvest Time

The heat meant that the harvest started extra early for some areas in Provence. For example, the cooperative in Cuers already started the harvest on August 14. So, the harvest started at the same time as the temperature for the coming month started to be above 35 degrees!

Harvest work in the afternoons was not possible due to the heat, both regarding the quality of the grapes and the health of the harvest workers. So, it is important to start harvesting work early, immediately when it gets light, or to harvest mechanically, starting already before the sun rises. Especially for Provence’s signature, the light and fresh rosé wine, it is important to harvest before it gets too hot during the day to preserve the freshness of the grapes.

Despite all that news, Göran Boman believes that 2024 will be a good vintage. Continue reading here for his original article with deatils on how he reached his conclusion.

Big Names in Provencal Wine

Provence is starting to be like Champagne, where large wineries buy grapes to make wine according to their own “recipe. ” However, in Champagne, you find the most interesting and affordable wines from small family-owned producers. Unfortunately, the trend of large wineries in Provence has accelerated. Is the industry now “billionaire rosé”?

Two years ago, Pernod Ricard, via its subsidiary Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët, bought the majority of the shares in the Grand Cru estate Château Sainte Marguerite, which has 200 hectares of vineyards in Côtes de Provence La Londe. Discover how Pernod Ricard continues their buying trend with a focus on Provencal rosé.

Guide: Provence Wine Regions and Vineyards

Guest Writer:

Göran Boman, the author of The Wines of Provence – Tricolour, is based in Sweden, far from Provence’s vineyards. His studies at Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology led to a career with large international companies. Before retiring, Göran monitored the quality of nuclear fuel transmitted from EDF France to Sweden.

About 25 years ago, he joined Munskänkarna (“Cup-bearers”) for wine tastings and education. The association is the world’s largest non-commercial wine-tasting group with 30,000 members, mainly in Sweden and Provence.

If you love Provencal wines, his book should be an essential reading for you. In his book, Göran Boman covers 58 wine producers and recommends 338 wines, not just rosé wines. Use the book as a guide to discovering these wines and their producers. His goal is to deepen your knowledge of everything worth knowing about the wines of Provence.