FRANCE: Up to half of France's 2003 champagne crop may be lost after vines were hit by freak frosts that producers described as the worst in almost 50 years.
Early estimates show Chardonnay grapes were the worst affected, with some 80 per cent of the vines lost in the frosts between April 7th and 11th, the French Champagne Producers' Federation (CIVC) said in a statement.
April is the month when the buds burst on the vines and green shoots appear.
"The first estimates could show a loss of up to 50 per cent, all vines included," the CIVC said. "We can already classify this weather event as among the most remarkable in the last 70 years." The last frosts of a similar magnitude occurred in 1957, when a cold front hit in two separate waves in April and May.
Producers remain on frost alert until mid-May.