The Mont Garo vineyard in Saint-Suliac has been producing wine for more than fifteen years.

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C. Allain / 20 Minutes

  • Rising temperatures could make Brittany a more favorable climate for wine production.

  • According to a climatologist, the temperatures recorded in Quimper are the same as those recorded in Angers fifty years ago.

  • In the region, vine plantations are multiplying, often by amateurs and now by professionals.

They were taken for fools.

A few years ago, the enthusiasts gathered in the Vignerons de Garo were the only ones to think that one could make wine on the lands of administrative Brittany.

Apart from Loire-Atlantique, where Muscadet and the close-up have seen their reputation grow, there were very few local initiatives.

But the idea of ​​enthusiasts of Saint-Suliac (Ille-et-Vilaine) to replant vines has finally been emulated and small vineyards have been created here and there.

Can we envisage seeing the sector develop?

It's possible.

According to climatologist Hervé Quenol, Brittany could even find an unlikely ally: global warming.

According to the CNRS research director in the Littoral, environment, remote sensing and geomatics laboratory at Rennes 2 University, “Brittany is experiencing a fairly incredible craze” around the cultivation of vines.

“There are a lot of uncertainties but there is no reason that we cannot be able to make wine in Brittany for the next decades.

The conditions will be much more favorable than today, ”explains the scientist.

The rain poses "disease problems for the vine"

Up to now carried by amateurs, this momentum is shared by a few professionals who settle in particular in Morbihan with the ambition to make Breton wine a business.

Where the temperatures are the mildest.

“We are observing a rise towards the north of areas of potential vine cultivation.

The vine needs a sum of accumulated temperatures throughout its growth.

Today, in Brittany, we are at the temperature of Anjou fifty years ago.

At the meteorological station of Quimper [Finistère], we have a [thermal] value equivalent to what we had in Angers in the years 1970-1980 ”, testifies the climatologist.

What creates an ideal climate for the vines?

It is not that simple.

“We are still talking about the temperature but there is still a lot of rainfall, especially in summer, which poses disease problems for the vines,” says Hervé Quenol.

Observers did not note any change in precipitation in the northern half of France.

Especially since the nature of the region's soils is often more suited to market gardening.

According to the association for the recognition of Breton wines, 90 vineyards are established or planned in the region.

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  • Agriculture

  • Viticulture

  • Vine

  • Vineyard

  • Winegrowers

  • Wine

  • Global warming

  • Reindeer

  • Planet