Monday 16 May 2016

How Does Frost Damage Grapes for Winemaking?

A number of external factors can influence the winemaking process. If a region experiences adverse weather patterns, the quality of the grapes used to create a certain vintage can suffer. So how does frost damage grapes for winemaking?

Effect of frost



The grape growing season spans the spring months. Wine Maker Magazine explains that during this period, vines are sensitive to temperatures below 0 °C. If there is a spring frost and temperatures drop below this threshold, it can damage the opening buds and young shoots on grapevines. Sometimes this inhibits the entire vine’s ability to produce the quality grapes required for winemaking.

Vintners invest in a number of measures to prevent their grapevines from frost damage. This includes delaying pruning, so that vines experience later bud bursts and avoid encountering devastating spring frosts. Winemakers sometimes invest in temperature modification measures e.g. installing heaters in their vineyards, to ensure that frost cannot lower the temperatures and damage grapevines.

Damage to winemaking


If a serious frost hits a winemaking region, it can cause significant damage to the area’s grape crop – as evidenced recently in Burgundy. Industry portal The Drinks Business reports that between the 26th and 27th April 2016, a heavy frost hit the entirety of Burgundy’s winemaking country, from the Maconnais to Chablis. Even those areas which normally escape such freezes fell victim to this frost.

The full impact of the frost is still being calculated but early estimations from regional industry body the Bourgogne Interprofession suggest that 46% of Burgundy’s vineyards – 13,453 hectares – were damaged by over 30% due to the frost. Furthermore, evidence suggests that 23% of those Burgundy vineyards affected saw their grape crops damaged by as much as 70%.

Frost damage can take a while to manifest. Therefore, several prominent Burgundy wine growers explained to The Drinks Business that it may be some time before they can fully assess the damage that this frost inflicted on the region’s grapevines. The frost also hit a number of other French wine growing regions, most notably impacting the entirety of the Loire Valley. Estimates indicate that many vineyards in this area have seen their grape crops damaged at rates which eclipse the 30% mark.

Try Burgundy wine

As seen recently in Burgundy, frost can restrict a grapevine’s ability to produce the standout grapes necessary for winemaking. Burgundy produce beautiful wine like the Clos Saint Denis 1996 using their world-class grapes. Frost damaging crops is a serious issue for wine producers and we hope a good harvest is still possible.