French wine production is expected to fall to one of its lowest levels in decades after shrinking vineyards and a summer of intense heat and drought damaged vines across the country.
The agriculture ministry’s first estimate for the 2026 harvest puts output at 33.9 million hectolitres — roughly 4.5 billion standard bottles. That is six per cent below 2025 and 17 per cent under the average for the five years to 2025.
The forecast would represent France’s third consecutive weak harvest, following historically poor production in 2024 and 2025. The International Organisation of Vine and Wine has described the 2025 harvest as France’s lowest since 1957.
Early-season conditions had raised hopes of a stronger vintage, but drought and heatwaves during the summer reduced yields and left grapes damaged in several major wine-growing areas.
Champagne among the worst-hit regions
Champagne is expected to suffer the sharpest decline, with production forecast to be 49 per cent lower than last year and 47 per cent below its five-year average.
Output in Bourgogne-Beaujolais is projected to fall by about a third, while the Val de Loire and Charentes regions are expected to record declines of 12 per cent and six per cent respectively.
Languedoc-Roussillon, France’s largest wine-producing basin, is forecast to improve by five per cent after a particularly poor harvest in 2025. Even so, production there is expected to remain below the recent average.
Bordeaux is also expected to recover, with output predicted to rise by 10 per cent. Rain in late August helped ease the effects of drought, although production remains well below its five-year average.
Many French producers began picking grapes unusually early this year, reflecting the impact of extreme temperatures. The country remains the world’s second-largest wine producer behind Italy and the leading exporter by value.
The area under vines fell by 2.5 per cent this year as producers continued to remove vineyards amid oversupply and declining wine consumption. The latest estimate also comes as French agriculture faces wider damage from heatwaves, depleted water supplies and parched pastures.
The French government has announced an emergency aid package worth more than €1 billion for farmers affected by the extreme weather.
