Climate change pushes French vineyards north

Warmer conditions are helping vineyards expand into northern France, where growers in Normandy, Brittany and Hauts-de-France are trying to build wine regions in areas long associated with cider, rain and cooler weather.

In Normandy's Calvados department, winemaker Sebastien Fricker has planted four hectares of vines in Marolles, about a 30-minute drive from Deauville. Fricker, whose family has grown wine in the Loire Valley for generations, said climate change and worsening soil quality made him reconsider where French wine could be grown over the next 50 years.

Fricker grows white and red grape varieties including Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. He said Normandy's stable climate, clay-limestone soil and limited temperature swings made the area well suited to vines.

This year, heatwaves, wildfires and drought disrupted French winegrowers, bringing early harvests, lower yields and a higher risk of smoke taint. Fricker said France would no longer be able to produce wine only in the south.

Output in Normandy remains small. Maxime Gazeau of the Norman Winegrowers' Union said the region has about 20 producers cultivating 20 hectares, compared with 85,000 hectares in Bordeaux. Normandy produces fewer than 100,000 bottles a year, and almost all local wine is sold directly by producers, he said.

In Brittany, Marina and Loic Fourrure have cultivated six hectares of vines in Theix-Noyalo since 2021. Marina Fourrure said winegrowers from southern France had told them they were right to grow grapes in Brittany, while warning that extreme weather was disrupting vines and pushing up alcohol levels.

Loic Fourrure, co-president of the Breton Winegrowers' Association, said the region had shown potential, but warned against calling it a winegrowing “El Dorado”. He said it would take another 20 years before their vines were fully mature.

In Hauts-de-France, local winegrower Bruno Cardot estimated vineyards now cover about 130 hectares. He said climate change was pushing agriculture, including viticulture, northwards in France.