News Digest: July 2025

by Valeria Tenison

Winemakers in Bordeaux are cautiously optimistic about the 2025 harvest, thanks to favourable weather that spared vines from frost and mildew. Key factors boosting this year’s prospects include the absence of spring frosts, unlike the devastating years of 2017, 2021, and 2023, as well as no major mildew outbreaks. However, concerns linger over potential summer drought, which could stress vines and reduce yields. With the year ending in 5, a traditionally lucky digit for vintages, hopes are high for a standout year. The works in the vineyards this month included relevage (training vines) and épamprage (sucker removal). With some days when temperatures reached 42°, wineries shortened outdoor work hours, shifting tasks to early mornings (6am–12pm) and relocating administrative or cellar work to sweltering afternoons. Stay tuned for August updates as harvest begins for the whites…

At the same time, the Bordeaux wine region is confronting an unprecedented structural crisis, with at least 600 struggling winegrowers now seeking to uproot a minimum of 5,500 additional hectares of vines. This latest demand comes on top of the 19,000 hectares already removed from production in recent years, including 13,000 hectares through government subsidy programmes. Industry experts estimate the region may ultimately need to shrink from its former 104,000 hectares to just 70,000-75,000 to restore market equilibrium. As the 2025 harvest approaches, with many winery cellars still full, emergency measures are being proposed. These include a distillation programme to destroy surplus wine stocks.

Meanwhile, French winemakers are sounding the alarm over a potential trade setback: a “catastrophic” 30% U.S. tariff threat, recalling the 2019 50% drop in exports after the introduction of 25% duties. Industry leaders fear domestic market destabilisation from unsold stocks and note effective price hikes of 45% taking into account currency fluctuations. All eyes turn to the August 1 negotiation deadlines.

Against this backdrop, frustration is boiling over at the retail level. Gironde winemakers staged protests at Lidl on July 12, labelling under-€3 wines with “Viti-Score E” (a reference to the French Nutri-Score system for food products) warnings to expose unsustainable pricing. The reality is that tonneau prices are at €600, versus a break-even point of €1,400. Protesters demand government intervention against the pricing that exacerbates the sector’s crisis.

On a brighter note, the prestige of Bordeaux wines found a global stage this month. King Charles III hosted French President Emmanuel Macron at a state banquet at Windsor Castle, featuring a symbolic Anglo-French wine selection. The menu featured Château Haut-Brion 1996 and Burgundy’s Corton-Charlemagne 2022, alongside a historic debut: Domaine Evremond’s English sparkling wine by Champagne Taittinger. The renowned chef Raymond Blanc crafted a menu featuring British ingredients with French techniques, continuing the 19th-century tradition of French-inspired banquet menus.

Celebrating Bordeaux’s rich heritage, a special screening of A Sip of Irish, a documentary exploring the influence of Irish wine merchants on Bordeaux’s grand cru estates, premiered on July 16 at La Cité du Vin. The film highlights how 17th-century Irish families shaped iconic châteaux, including Lynch-Bages, Léoville Barton, Phélan Ségur, and Kirwan.

Penfolds has awarded €120,000 to three sustainability-driven projects in France as part of its Evermore France Grant Program. The initiative supports innovations in winemaking and local communities. The funding will go to L’Appel de la Vigne (€25,000) for its Call of the Vine project, which aims to reshape perceptions of careers in viticulture; Pépite Raisin (€40,000) for developing a grape seed-based antifungal solution to protect vineyards; and INRAE (€55,000) for research on rootstocks to improve water efficiency and climate resilience in viticulture.

The Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB) elected Bernard Farges as president on July 7, marking a leadership transition during the region’s worst structural crisis in decades. The cooperative winemaker from Entre-deux-Mers, previously president from 2013 to 2016 and 2019 to 2022, takes the helm with 43 of 46 votes, succeeding negociant Allan Sichel under the organisation’s rotational leadership system.

Recognition of Bordeaux’s talent also made headlines. Château Haut-Bailly’s president, Véronique Sanders, has been recognised by Forbes as one of France’s 50 most inspiring female leaders over 50 years old, joining culinary legend Anne-Sophie Pic and media pioneer Mercedes Erra on this prestigious list.

LVMH’s iconic Château d’Yquem enters a new era as 36-year-old Lorenzo Pasquini takes over as managing director from Pierre Lurton, who remains president after 20 years at the helm. The Italian-trained oenologist joined the estate in 2020 and led the 2022 organic conversion at Yquem. Lurton has mentored Pasquini since 2015 at Argentina’s Cheval des Andes.

Finally, the Bordeaux community mourns the loss of one of its transformational figures.

Gérard Perse, the self-made visionary who transformed Château Pavie into a Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé, has died at 75. The former Paris grocer turned legendary winemaker built a wine empire, while also creating a hospitality legacy including the two-Michelin-starred La Table de Pavie.

 

Sources: Sud Ouest, Terre de Vins, La Revue du Vin de France, Vitisphere, TWE