The frost has hit 80 per cent of French vineyards across most of France’s winegrowing regions, including the Rhône Valley, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and the Loire.
The French government has declared an ‘agricultural disaster’.
"We already know that some sectors have been affected in their entirety. We will not be able to measure the real impact of this frost episode until the next 24 to 48 hours," said Philippe Pellaton, president of Inter-Rhône.
"My most sincere thoughts go to all the vine-growers hard hit by this unprecedented frost episode.”
Temperatures dipped as low as -5C as winemakers lit braseros, straw fires and candles throughout the night in attempts to spare the buds already bloomed.
While the extent of the devastation is not yet fully understood, the frost arrives as a new threat to an industry already damaged by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and U.S. tariffs.
