Harvests in Béziers: quality there, quantity a little less

In Sérignan, we have been on the breach since August.

On the breach for almost a month for some, winegrowers and winemakers are in full harvest. Halfway through, the majority consider that the quality of the grapes is there. In terms of quantity, due to drought, they note a drop of around 10 to 20% depending on the sector.

For three weeks now, some of them, their features drawn by fatigue, winegrowers and winemakers have been more than ever on the breach. In the cooperative cellars, the noria of tractors is endless. They tirelessly empty the trailers filled with grapes. Sorting, destemming, pressing, fermentation… In their wake, in the cellars, a shadow army is busy honoring Bacchus.

Apart from in the high cantons, where the harvests are only just beginning, due to the difference in climate, in the plains and near the coast, winegrowers are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. With an identical observation for all: in terms of quality, the 2024 harvest will be a good vintage. On the other hand, production will be revised downwards compared to the average of recent years.

The drought of 2023 is making itself felt

“As far as we are concerned, we are a little over halfway through the harvest, analyses Olivier Cabanis, the president of the Vignerons de Sérignan winery, which covers 1,200 hectares. What remains to be harvested are mainly the red grapes with which we make rosés and reds, syrah, merlot and cabernet-sauvignon. There are around 35,000 hectolitres left to harvest. I had hoped that we would reach 80,000 hl. We will be a little below, between 75,000 hl and 80,000 hl. So it is lower than the average of what we produce, knowing that we are coming off a year where we produced 70,000 hl.”

The owner of the Sérignan winery believes that last year's drought will be felt in the 2024 harvest, with some grape varieties not developing as they should have. On the other hand, in terms of quality, the wines should be highly acclaimed.

A finding shared by Lilian Bertin, director of Vignerons du Pays d'Enserune, a cooperative winery whose winegrowers manage more than 3,000 hectares in around twenty communes between the Orb and Aude rivers, west of Béziers: “For the moment, if qualitatively it is very good, on the quantity, we are behind by around 10 to 15%, also confirms the director who agrees with his counterpart from Sérignan. For example, some grape varieties, such as Merlot, are suffering from last year's water conditions."

Different terroirs between the coast and the high cantons

Having recovered the Hérépian and Puimisson cellars this year, the Alma Cersius cooperative winery (Cers, Portiragnes, Villeneuve-lès-Béziers), which has 1,700 hectares and 250 cooperators, can now focus on different terroirs, between the Mediterranean climate and vines located up to 350 m altitude in the high cantons. So, if on the Puimisson side, due to lack of water, a drop in the quantity of grapes harvested is recorded, this should not be the case near the coast or by gaining a little altitude: “The harvest has just started in Hérépian where they have taken 30mm of rainwater, explains Marc Robert, the president of the winery. The quantity should therefore be maintained compared to the average of other years. Close to the sea, we have had slightly cooler nights and therefore less evapotranspiration. There should not be a big drop." In Alma Cersius, where the last grapes should be brought in at the beginning of October for the Hérépian sector, the quality of the grapes also announces promising vintages.

"A crisis awaits us"

In Servian, at the Vignerons de l'Occitane (500 cooperators, 3,000 hectares of vines for a production of 250,000 hl), Martial Bories, the president, also assures that “the quality will be without problem”. But like his peers, he announces “a drop in production of 15 to 18%. Even with watering, it is not enough. With drip irrigation, it still burns on it. We need a sprinkler system." The president also says he is worried about the future: "Nothing has been set yet in terms of prices by the merchants. I really think that a crisis is awaiting us in terms of wine…"

At the Roquebrun cellar, we will wait

&At the Roquebrun cooperative winery, the grape harvest has also begun. For the time being, winegrowers are announcing a quality harvest and the quantity should be there: "The drought has not really impacted us, notes Jean-Baptiste Bufflier, the president of the cooperatives. We were lucky to have rain. We are on an average production of around 18,000 hectoliters. It should be almost the same this year, maybe slightly less."

The thirty or so winegrowers at the Roquebrun winery work on a total of 400 hectares, a quarter of which have already been harvested:  "We are going to slow down the pace a little, announces Jean-Baptiste Bufflier. We will resume on Monday, September 16. It still lacks a little maturity phenolic." In the area, the harvest should end towards the end of October.