All southern appellations suffered the same widespread frost as the north in 2021. AP Vacqueyras president Jacky Bernard (who sadly died in early January 2023) said that at least 80% of the appellation was hit by frost. But he and others witnessed a strange phenomenon throughout the region: some plots were decimated but others alongside were barely touched. Nonetheless, even vines not directly hit by frost seemed stunned by the intense cold. For those vines that eventually recovered, it meant a late start to the growing season, and ripeness was difficult to achieve.
Many producers, such as Vincent Avril of Clos des Papes in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, suffered reduced yields – he said temperatures dropped to -4°C here, but ‘what was mad is that it was 19°C that afternoon, and [had been] 25°C less than a week earlier’.
