Bumper French wine grape harvest clouded by threat of wood decay

The French grape harvest has produced a bumper crop for 2014 after two years of adverse weather conditions.
But the smiles could be wiped off winegrowers’ faces if wood decay disease, which now affects 12 per cent of vines in all of France’s wine-growing regions, continues its relentless march across the country.
The spread of the disease by three types of fungi which attack the vines has so alarmed experts that it is being compared to phylloxera, the deadly disease which decimated French vineyards at the end of the 19th century.
“There’s no miracle solution in sight,” said specialist Olivier Yobregat from the south-western branch of the French Wine Institute, located in Lisle-sur-Tarn. “Winegrowers want answers, but this disease is very complex. A lot of the research being done will only bring results in the long term,” he said.

This post was published at The Independent