The President of Hérault stopped at the Frontignan Muscat cooperative cellar

The president of the department was informed about the local situation. MIDI LIBRE – PHILIPPE MALRIC

As part of his traditional tour of cooperative cellars, Kléber Mesquida, the president of the Hérault department, made a stop on Tuesday, September 17, at the Muscat de Frontignan cellar.

“Talking with people on the ground will never replace a file submitted to a desk”This is the philosophy of Kléber Mesquida, president of the Hérault department, as part of his traditional tour of cooperative cellars. An outing that stopped on Tuesday, September 17th with that of the muscat of Frontignan which has just celebrated its 120th birthday.

A drop of 18 to 20%

It was therefore to “immerse himself in local concerns” that he met, in the company of Yvan Pellet, vice-president in charge of agriculture, William Juan, the president of the Frontignan institution. The latter summarized a “season marked by some minor inconveniences including the fire for which we hold the record in terms of surface area. The harvest is below our hopes and forecasts”, he declared. And the one who is also a cooperator continued, “Despite a rainy spring, we recorded a drop in production of between 18 and 20%, but the quality is still there”.

High temperatures to blame

For William Juan, “Even though we had a lot of bunches at the end of spring, the grapes did not grow because of the high temperatures”. “There is nothing we can do about the vagaries of the weather, conceded Kléber Mesquida. But that is why we want to implement the Hérault Irrigation plan. These are not large basins as some continue to say. The goal is to store water from the Rhône in winter." The President of the Department specifies: “We won't water everyone, but it's a major goal. We mustn't forget that agriculture represents the 2nd largest GDP in Hérault after tourism”.

A bit like Robinson Crusoe

Of course, the discussion then turned to the great fire of August 18 – “my worst day in thirty years as an elected official”, announced Michel Arrouy, the mayor of Frontignan – its repercussions on the vines, the great work of the firefighters, but also on the aftermath. Particularly with regard to the vines hit by the flames. Then before going to visit the cellar, Kléber Mesquida inquired about the different products presented by the cooperative cellar. “We make various products with our muscat, William Juan replied. It's a bit like Robinson Crusoe who decorated the coconuts he ate every day differently”.

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