Wildfires have already decimated 42,000 hectares in Bordeaux’s Gironde region. Even though vineyards are still safe from the blaze, winegrowers fear the grapes might take on a ‘smoke taint‘ if fumes from the fires get to the vines.
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Grapes are still in their veraison period; from a small green marble, they are starting to grow into bigger burgundy or golden coloured fruit. It’s a decisive phase of the grape’s maturation when smoke can impact the wine’s aroma.
Some wines naturally have ash scents from other sources, but if this flavour impedes the fruity aromas, winegrowers can decide to downgrade their harvest or sell it in bulk to distillers for the alcohol.
“If we’d been closer to the grape harvest, which is due to start in three weeks, it could have been far more serious,” says to French Figaro newspaper Séverine Bonnie from château Malartic-Lagravière, just 20 kilometres away from the flames.
At that moment of the harvest, smoke can seriously impregnate the grapes, although not all vineyards exposed to the smoke are necessarily affected. Strong winds, time of exposure to smoke and weather conditions can change how the grapes taste.
“In Bordeaux, not only are we still at the veraison stage, but we can also hope for thunderstorms to wash away any berries that may have been affected,” says to French Figaro newspaper Édouard Moueix, owner of multiple châteaux in the Bordeaux region.
A smell of “economic apocalypse”
Wildfires that have burned an area four times the size of Paris and driven 220,000 people from homes and some of the region’s tourist attractions promise to sting France’s already squeezed economy.
“It’s a physical apocalypse when you see all these sites where there’s nothing left aside from burnt homes and forests, and then there’s the economic apocalypse,” said Patrick Seguin, president of the regional chamber of commerce, his voice choking with emotion.
Edouard Le Grix de la Salle is among entrepreneurs bracing for pain. French government appeals for people to avoid the region are causing consternation.
“It’s incredible that they’ve said such a thing, especially when wine tourism is becoming more and more important,” Le Grix de la Salle said.
Bordeaux’s legendary wine has seen consumption plunge as young people turn to other beverages and competition from vineyards abroad has grown. U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have given winemakers — and much of the global economy — an added hangover.
An industry already in crisis
“The wine business has been in crisis for several years now, and it’s worsening with the geopolitical problems, the now widespread problems of inflation and the fact that wine is falling out of fashion among younger people,” Le Grix de la Salle said.
“Tourism was really the only dynamic part of the business that was still growing, both for us and, more generally, for Bordeaux wines,” he said. “And now this comes along as a brake.”
His family’s Grand Verdus wine estate is roughly 35 kilometres from the fires that have raged since last week on the other side of the Garonne River that runs through Bordeaux. The fires have hit only a small percentage of the Gironde region, but the mark on its reputation is sizable.
“How did they not think about protecting that sector? And the cultural sector, too. There’s so much to visit in Bordeaux. There are so many museums, there are châteaux. It’s unbelievable,” Le Grix de la Salle said.
The region in southwest France is replete with vacation spots for tourists lured by soft-sand beaches, winemaking châteaux, some of France’s largest pine forests and the historic city of Bordeaux, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The oyster-rich Arcachon Bay draws foodies. But the fire and evacuations have emptied some prime spots.
The chamber of commerce says 39,000 businesses have been affected in the region that’s a hub of defence and aerospace industries, including Airbus, Dassault and Thales.
Even before the fires, the chamber of commerce said rising energy costs were squeezing profits. Some 94% of businesses responding to a poll of regional enterprises in mid-July said they face difficulties.