In the summer of 2023 we spent a night on a vineyard in Beaujolais. There was a fascinating object on the terrace of the associated restaurant. An ‘anti-hail cannon’, the owner told us when we asked for an explanation. One of the weapons used in Beaujolais against the great common enemy: hail.
Of course, hail is a problem for all wine producers. But in Beaujolais the challenge is even bigger. Located between the Alps and the Massif Central, Beaujolais is the place in France where hailstorms occur par excellence. More than elsewhere in France and… more than in the past. Climate change is bringing more frequent and heavier showers here. While winegrowers used to expect substantial hail damage once every ten years, it can now occur once every three years. And that could cost you your entire harvest. It is therefore no wonder that the wine growers in Beaujolais are doing everything they can to arm themselves against this enemy. But how?
Always expensive, usually ineffective
Those who are threatened want to protect themselves. And so solutions have been devised for centuries to prevent hail damage. Like that hail cannon. It already existed at the end of the 19th century and is still used by some farmers. The operation is simple: about half an hour before the expected hailstorm, the cannon fires pressure waves into the sky at regular intervals. The theory is that this prevents the water droplets from freezing. Seems nice, but an effect has never been demonstrated. Moreover, the guns are expensive and cause a lot of noise pollution. Another possible solution: ensure that small hailstones form instead of big ones. A principle that is sometimes applied by the Russians to (at least in theory) make rain. A cloud is ‘injected’ with a substance such as silver iodide, for example from an airplane or by – yes, there it is again – shooting it with a cannon. Small hailstones would then form around these cores. And that’s better than big ones. Unfortunately, here too the costs are sky-high and the effectiveness is unproven. Other anti-hail inventions: anti-hail rockets, balloons with a saline solution… The costs quickly rise to thousands of euros per hail storm. And don’t forget that everything depends on being able to predict the weather accurately.
What about nets?
If you cannot predict or influence the weather effectively, you can always take measures on the ground. For a few years now, it has been officially permitted to use an approved net system in the production of AOC/AOP. After a three-year test in Burgundy, the government service Inao found that these nets have no significant influence on, for example, insolation and ripening. Moreover, the proven effectiveness was no less than 90 percent! However, this system also has its disadvantages. A wine producer may only apply the system after a formal adjustment to the specifications of the vineyard, which – we are in France of course – must first be requested from the management organization of the appelation. Moreover, the costs are not cheap; calculate 15,000 to 20,000 euros per hectare. And then the nets also entail extra work. After all, they have to be removed again and again for pruning, defoliating and harvesting.
Deductible: 30 percent
Finally, in addition to the physical measures, there are also other options. Hail damage is insurable. These are expensive insurance policies, often with a deductible of up to 30%. Often only a third of the winegrowers in a region are insured. In recent years, however, several wine regions have taken collective action. They organized a competition among insurers and negotiated lower rates and a deductible of only 10%. Additional advantage: insurance can cover more risks, including frost and drought in addition to hail. In some regions, the number of insured winegrowers rose to more than 60%.
VCI
Are insurance the solution for hail damage? The question remains. Also because these insurances cover production costs, but not margins. A wine producer who loses half his harvest due to hail is therefore left with a big problem. Although there are measures that can be taken against this too. A VCI, a Volume Complémentaire Individuel, applies to every French vineyard. A reserve system, whereby a certain additional volume may be produced in good years. Usually about 20%. In the event of a bad harvest, this reserve can be used again. Many winegrowers advocate increasing the permitted volume of this reserve so that it can cover half a harvest in the event of an emergency. This is now being experimented with in some areas.