Bad weather: in the Aisne, hailstones like "golf balls" ravaged the vines

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"The leaves are completely chopped, the sprigs are cut, broken, severed."

In front of his 80,000 vines located on the Champagne route, in the Aisne, Eric Guinchard is disappointed.

And for good reason, this winegrower has just lost more than 95% of his vines in the recent bad weather.

While 19 departments were still on orange alert because of thunderstorms Sunday afternoon, almost every foot of Eric Guinchard's vineyard was collapsed, crushed by a violent hailstorm. 

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"We even saw pieces the size of a brick"

"We had 20 minutes of very large hailstones, some were the size of golf balls, tennis balls. We even saw pieces the size of a brick", he testifies at the microphone of Europe 1. An "impressive" phenomenon which was accompanied by about "50 mm of water".

Losses impossible to quantify

For now, it is impossible to quantify the losses, especially since Eric Guinchard does not have the means to afford insurance for his harvest.

But he should still get by financially this year thanks to an individual reserve accumulated over several years.

"We are missing between 4,000 kg and 6,000 kg of nectar. I can take it out [from my reserve], but it's a one-shot rifle. If I use everything, I have nothing left for the year. next."

But first of all, the winegrower must try to save everything that can be saved from his vineyard. While knowing that no less than two years are necessary to regain healthy feet.