French winegrowers preparing for early harvests

STORY: French winegrowers preparing for early harvests DATELINE: Aug. 16, 2022 LENGTH: 00:02:23 LOCATION: Paris CATEGORY: SOCIETY/ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. Various of vineyard 2. SOUNDBITE 1 (French): DAVID BEROUJON, Winemaker in Beaujolais 3. Various of vineyard 4. SOUNDBITE 2 (French): DAVID BEROUJON, Winemaker in Beaujolais 5. Various of winery facility STORYLINE: The Beaujolais producers' union in France will decide on Tuesday on the date of the harvest for 2022. This should be exceptionally early as the winegrowers should start picking grapes from the end of this week. The high temperatures accelerate the ripening of the grapes and force the harvest to be brought forward by one to three weeks. "The hot weather in July had a strong impact on the grapes. This year's weather was marked by persistent heat (1.9°C above normal), very high sunshine (48% more than average with 390 hours of sunshine), and drought," announces the Beaujolais Syndicate. The strong sunshine and the high temperatures in July