The EU's failure to avoid the Trump administration's 15 percent import tariff on wine filled the French press towards the end of this week following several days of climate change talk in the press with stories of harvests starting early in various regions across the country coming in thick and fast. The pickers were out in force across the country as the recent national heatwave brought grapes to maturity much faster than many were expecting (see below).
Meanwhile, French broadsheet Le Figaro tried to do its bit to counter falling national wine sales by listing its top wine influencers. After a cursory nod to Eric Asimov, James Suckling and Jancis Robinson, the paper listed homegrown talent Pascaline Lepeltier (sommelier and wine writer), Rajat Parr (sommelier and winemaker), Soil Pimp Robert Dentice, "one of the most respected American wine critics" Jon Bonné, and LA's "digital aesthete" Richard Miyake as top wine influencers in Instagram.
Apwasiwine's Clinton Lee, whose sensitivity to table etiquette would make a royal butler review his resumé (and whose apparent popularity puts paid to the notion that wine communicators need to be more approachable to the average consumer), took the top title for TikTok vids, while winemaker Émile Coddens and NY somm The Wine Guru also got a look-in.
Meanwhile, here are some stories you might have missed this week:
Alsace harvest earliest on record
In Alsace, the grape harvest has never started so early, with pickers out on Tuesday (19 August) to bring in grapes for Crémant production. According to news agency AFP, the harvest (for still, appellation-level) wines is set to begin on Monday (25 August).
"We've never got under way so early," said Gilles Ehrhart, president of the Winegrowers' Association of Alsace (AVA).
This was due to global warming, said radio station Europe 1, with a winegrower, identified only as "Pierre" telling telling listeners the harvest was "10-15 days earlier than expected", primarily down to hotter summers (and, this year in particular, significant heatwaves).
The previous record for the earliest harvest date was set in 2018, when secateurs were handed out in earnest on 22 August.
"There's basically 20-25 days' difference between now and 30 years ago," said Ehrhart. "We've pretty much gained a day per year over 30 years. It's linked to climate change."
AFP said some winegrowers had already started bringing in grapes prior to 19 August (the official harvest dates are set by the regional governing bodies) but that these wineries would need to seek (retrospective) permission from the country's appellation body (the INAO) to be allowed to release such wines commercially.
Heatwave sparks harvests in France
It was the same story on the opposite side of the country, with producers in Muscadet getting ready to bring grapes in any day now. Local newspaper Ouest France said winegrowers in the region were "urgently preparing for the harvest" and that "the grapes are almost ripe" due to the recent heatwave, which saw temperatures hit 37°C in Clisson last Saturday.
The 2025 harvest in Muscadet would not be the earliest on record – that title (for now) goes to the 2003 vintage which saw pickers in the rows on 19 August – but, according to François Robin of the regional wine body the Nantes Wine Federation, 2025 would be "one of the three earliest harvests in 40 years" for the region.
Slightly more to the east and the winegrowers in Anjou-Saumur were already under way, having started harvest on the same day as their counterparts in Alsace: Tuesday 19 August. Displaying what could be described as a flair for the laconic, Émilie Joyaux at the local wine trade body the Fédération Viticole Anjou Saumur, told Ouest France "it's been hot recently".
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