French Winemakers Light Candles To Warm Grapevines

French vintners are lighting candles to thaw their grapevines to save them from a late frost following a winter warm spell, a temperature swing that is threatening fruit crops in multiple countries.

Ice-coated vines stretched across hillsides around Chablis as the Burgundy region woke Monday to temperatures of minus 5 C (23 F).

Fruit growers are worried that the frost will kill off large numbers of early buds, which appeared in March as temperatures rose above 20 C (68 F), and disrupt the whole growing season.

The frost is particularly frustrating after a similar phenomenon hit French vineyards last year, leading to some 2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in losses.

Before dawn Monday, row upon row of candles flickered beneath the frosty vines in Chablis. As the sun rose, it illuminated the ice crystals gripping the vines.

Some vintners tried to warm the vines with electrical lines, or sprayed the buds with water to protect them from frost. The water creates a thin layer of ice that ensures the blossom’s temperature remains around freezing point but does not dip much lower.

Chablis vintner Daniel Defaix, whose vineyard has been producing wine for 400 years and lived through a multitude of climate disasters, calls what’s happening now “a very, very serious frost.”

He noted temperatures are dropping a few degrees lower than last year, down to minus 7 C in places, and have reached warmer hilltop plots as well as those in the cooler valleys.

He placed paraffin candles on the soil or set up special irrigation systems to protect about five hectares of his most valuable grand cru and premier cru grapes, but had to leave the remaining 25 hectares to face the forces of nature.

At a cost of 10 euros per candle — and 600 candles per hectare — it was too costly to invest in saving the rest of the grapes.

A wine grower checks the plant in a vineyard of the Jura region, central France, early Monday April 4, 2022 in Le Vernois. Plunging April temperatures around France are threatening vineyards and other important crops.