Loire 2019: The Summer Drought
Along the length of the Loire Valley the summer months were largely warm and dry, this warmer weather kicking in midway through the month of June. Rainfall for this month was typically above average for the entire month, but it fell mostly during the first two weeks. The data recorded at the weather station in Tours was typical, with 76.1 mm registered in June (above the thirty-year average) but of this 74.9 mm fell during weeks one and two, with just 1.2 mm recorded during weeks three and four. As the month drew to a close the region was basking beneath cloudless skies, with long days filled with sunshine and correspondingly high temperatures. June 27th was particularly warm, with 38.6ºC in Nantes, 39ºC at Nevers (which is 50 km south of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé) and 38ºC at Saint-Etienne (just south of the Côte Roannaise and Côtes du Forez appellations in the Upper Loire) setting a new record for the month in all three regions.
This trend continued through July, which remained largely dry and very warm. All the regions of the Loire Valley experienced sunny weather and low levels of rainfall, with the 5 mm that fell on Tours during this month being particularly noteworthy. Even at Nevers, where the rainfall was 37.7 mm (still well below the average 61.8 mm), there was some drought, with most of the rain falling during the first and fourth weeks, with the middle of the month remaining very dry. In many parts July was the sunniest it had ever been, with 338.2 hours of sunshine recorded at Nantes a new record, likewise the 340.7 hours recorded at Beaucouzé (close to the vineyards in Anjou). And there was a new record set at Tours when the daytime temperature hit 40.8ºC.
August was thankfully a little cooler, some vignerons even describing it as cold, although if you look at the data the conditions were close to the thirty-year average (i.e. they were still warm) and I don’t think anyone was forced to break out their skiing equipment before heading out into the vines. In the Muscadet region it was slightly drier than average, and with most of the rain that fell coming in one day, there was no real alleviation of the drought. Anjou continued to enjoy some sunny weather, and it was dry upriver, with the 27.4 mm recorded at Tours well below average for the month.
