France’s wine industry is reportedly in crisis, after grape growers in the south have come under attack from powdery mildew in the overriding damp.

The harvest of vineyards from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Champagne and the Loire have already been wiped out by the fungus, which is thriving due to unusually high rainfall and warm temperatures. Only Provence and the southwestern Languedoc-Roussillon region have been spared.

In many cases, the harvest can only now be saved by consistently warm and dry conditions until September.

Organic wine growers have suffered the most, and in several regions are resorting to spraying anti-fungal chemicals on their vines to ward off the disease.

ast year, the fungus was killed off by a run of warm weather, however, this year, the rains are regular and uninterrupted, meaning that there is no time for the grapes to dry.

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