Wine Production Problems? Bad French Weather, Brexit To Raise Prices

Lovers of French wine could soon have to pay steeper prices to get their favorite beverage. Production of wine in the country is likely to be down 10 percent due to bad weather, which leads to higher prices, officials said, according to the BBC.

Production in 2016 was first hampered by chilly weather in the spring, which was followed by a summer heat wave. Coupled together, the weather means the total output will not hit forecasts. The country is expected to produce about 944 million gallons in 2016, down from about 1.26 billion gallons last year, according to the BBC.

The French agricultural ministry’s statistical service, Agreste, blamed Thursday "the spring freeze that hit certain wine-growing areas, recurring winds made worse by drought around the Mediterranean and damage stemming from frost," the Guardian reported.

Jerôme Despey, head of the wine division of the agriculture ministry's FranceAgriMer, told the Guardian that the weather events were "spectacular," with some hailstorms that "laid waste entire vineyards."

Lovers of bubbly have it especially tough, with production down by one-third in France's Champagne region. The area was struck with several rounds of spring frost and hailstorms and harvesting is already a week behind schedule based on a 10-year average, the Guardian reported.

Overall prices are also expected to rise after the British pound fell in value against the euro following the Brexit referendum to leave the European Union. A U.K. seller named Jean-Pierre Hourlier told the BBC that "prices are going up across the board because of the euro and the impact on transport because of Brexit."

According to a government report last year, Britain is the largest importer of French wine at about 53 million gallons per year, with the United States importing some 30 million gallons. The issues with weather likely means that France will remain in second place behind Italy for total wine production this year. Italy was the largest producer of wine last year as well.