The fires that have raged and continue to rage in France and Spain are terrible. The have caused enormous material and human losses. It is a tragedy for those affected.
As for the fires near Bordeaux, they are now under control, and people who were evacuated are starting to return home. But the municipalities that have been hardest hit are still desolately empty.
The fires have been concentrated in forested coastal areas southwest of the city of Bordeaux (the Les Landes Forest and Cap Ferret). 42,000 hectares have burned.
The vineyards in Bordeaux are located further inland, far outside the fire area. Agricultural land has not been affected and what has burned is almost exclusively pine forest and shrubland (and campsites, various holiday homes etc.).
The vineyards in Bordeaux have therefore not been directly affected by the fires.
However, there may be an indirect risk for vines in a fire area even if the vines are not burning. The grapes can be damaged by smoke, the wines can get “smoke taint”, a problem well known in, for example, Australia and California. But even that risk seems to be small in Bordeaux. The vineyards are not close enough to the fire, and the harvest is far enough away that the grapes are most likely not in danger.
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Travel: Come on a wine tour to Bordeaux with BKWine. (PS: We’ve written a prize-winning book on Bordeaux.)
