Is the region of Roussillon in the south of France starting to look like a desert? Not far from it. In the Côtes du Roussillon-Villages Les Aspres, not far from Perpignan, they have had not more than 100 mm of rain since the beginning of the year.
Now they are hoping for some serious storms during the summer to avoid a catastrophically small harvest. It is the young vines that suffer the most. Some growers are now removing the clusters of grapes from these vines so that they can instead focus on developing their roots. Better to sacrifice this year’s harvest and that the vines survive, they say.
The older vines are less stressed by the lack of water, but they also suffer. Their foliage has not developed as it should.
Read more: france3-regions
