2024-04-25 06:53:53
With the thermometer dropping several times below zero degrees in recent days, hectares of vines have frozen. The Vaudois Chablais and the Geneva vineyards are particularly affected. Winegrowers fear consequences for their next harvest.
Although it is still too early to quantify the damage, winegrowers know: the consequences of this late frost will be serious. They know well that such an episode results in fewer fruits at harvest time.
“We had significant losses from the first night (…) I think that three quarters of my vines were 100% frozen”, testifies Thursday in La Matinale Emilienne Hutin-Zoumbac, winegrower in the family estate of Hutins in Dardagny (GE).
>> See the 7:30 p.m. topic on the sudden change in temperatures which is causing damage in several vineyards in French-speaking Switzerland:
The sudden change in temperatures causes damage in several vineyards in French-speaking Switzerland / 7:30 p.m. / 2 min. / Monday at 7:30 p.m.
How to continue to be profitable by selling less?
This large 20-hectare estate produces up to 115,000 liters of wine in good years. But the winemaker is aware that this will not be the case this year. Thanks to its resilience, the vine “will start again” as soon as the heat returns “within two or three weeks. But its buds will obviously have less fruit”, she explains. “Now it’s a question of knowing what will come out, how and with how many clusters,” she emphasizes.
She estimates that this episode of frost should cause her to lose up to half of her harvest. This while the costs will not decrease. But how can you keep the operation afloat with fewer bottles to sell?
His estate had already had to face the consequences of an exceptional frost in 2017. The economic loss from this new event will therefore be more difficult to bear.
Insurance against the risk of frost, but not sufficient
Insurance of vines against the risk of frost has existed for a long time and there has been a special one for frost caused to the fruit since 2018. However, “being insured” is not the miracle solution, as Grégoire Tombez, director, explains. from Green Triangle, a company specializing in monitoring wine risks. “It is not a solution that covers the entire problem because the wine grower will not have the grapes. However, he will be compensated for the financial loss, but not for the loss of production.”
“The entire value chain is impacted,” he adds. Not to mention that the price of insurance is also high.
It is for this reason that Emilienne Hutin-Zoubac only insured certain plots, i.e. those which “historically” experienced episodes of frost. But this year, several uninsured vines were also affected.
A motion in 2025 to subsidize insurance
One way to help winegrowers face these costs is the Bourgeois motion. Named after the former Friborg national councilor Jacques Bourgeois, it provides for subsidizing the insurance premium. This is a way of encouraging winegrowers to take insurance.
This motion will be introduced on January 1, 2025. We hope that it will have an impact on the number of policyholders because, according to Gaylor Monnerat, head of the Switzerland sector at Suisse Grêle, their number has stagnated since 2020.
Only around ten percent of Swiss vineyards are currently insured against frost. For Geneva, this represents approximately a third of the surface area.
Discussions to help uninsured winegrowers
For those who are not insured, discussions are underway. Geneva winegrowers have already requested a meeting with the cantonal authorities.
In the canton of Vaud, discussions are also underway, as explained by the president of the Cantonal Winegrowers Federation François Montet. “We can ask” that the State steps in for aid “and I think we will do it,” he said at the RTS microphone.
Even if, as he points out, the amounts “are not important”. “The goal is to help the producer not to sink financially.”
Otherwise, solidarity between winegrowers is essential. For example, it is possible to buy the surplus harvest from those who have it. But there are quotas and that also raises the question of labels. For example, a Geneva wine cannot be made from Vaudois fruits.
>> To go further, also listen to the interview with a winegrower worried about her production in the face of frost:
Winegrowers worried about their production in the face of frost: interview with Sophie Dugerdil / Forum / 4 min. / Tuesday at 6:05 p.m.
Radio subject: Camille Besse
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