Wildfires threaten France's historic Bordeaux wine region

Scorching wildfires are encroaching on France's Bordeaux region, known for historic vineyards which power the local economy. Château Smith Haut Lafitte owner Florence Cathiard shared how the fires threaten her grape crops and way of life.

🇫🇷 🍷 #France's largest #wine region is facing a wake-up call after #wildfires neared #Bordeaux's famed vineyards.  The blazes underscored the climate challenges posed by severe drought and repeated #heatwaves.  FRANCE 24's Gabrielle Nadler explains ▶️

A firefighter works to extinguish an advancing wildfire near Formariz in Zamora province, Spain, on Jul 29, 2026. (Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas) 31 Jul 2026 06:58PM PARIS: Greek firefighters faced another day of battling flames in high-risk conditions for new ignitions on Friday (Jul 31) as France and Spain hoped for rep

Bordeaux's legendary wine has seen consumption plunge as young people turn to other beverages and competition from vineyards abroad has grown, while Trump's tariffs have given winemakers an added hangover.

French winemakers, already facing a plunge in consumption and U.S. tariffs, now are seeing tourism — "the only dynamic part of the business that was still growing" — hurt because of the fires.

A massive wildfire has been raging across the Bordeaux region for almost a week now, and these forest fires are emitting toxic smoke that is sometimes visible from dozens of kilometres away. This smoke has harmful effects on all living beings, including the vineyards.

Europe is now in the grip of its fourth heatwave this summer, which threatens to fuel the wildfires still raging in France and Spain.

Firefighters are battling a wildfire in south-west France which covers an area four times the size of Paris as temperatures were forecast to reach 40C.Authorities in the Gironde region said the blaze had not spread further during a calm night but warned that forecast heat and winds could cause the flames to surge again

Wildfires near Bordeaux are hurting the wine region's economy

Wildfires near Bordeaux are hurting the wine region's economy

Wildfires near Bordeaux bring more troubles to France’s wine industry  AP News

Forget grapes — it’s all about agave now. As California’s staple wine industry grapples with declining consumer demand in an oversaturated industry, with the grape market hitting a less-than-sweet snag, wine grape farmers are increasingly turning towards growing agave — a group of spiky succulents known for producing s

PARIS, July 28 - Wildfires burning outside Bordeaux are underscoring the climate challenges facing France's largest wine region, where producers are grappling with severe drought, rising temperatures and falling wine consumption.

One of the largest fires in modern French history is raging near the vineyards of Bordeaux. That is just the latest problem for France’s embattled wine industry.