記録的な猛暑、過酷なブドウの収穫　仏ボルドー

【サンカンタンドバロンＡＦＰ＝時事】フランスで「ヒートドーム」現象が発生し、一部地域で気温が４０度を超える中、ワインの産地南西部ボルドーでブドウの収穫が行われている。（写真は仏南西部サンカンタンドバロンの「シャトー・ド・スール」のブドウ園で、日中の暑さを避けるために早朝にブドウを収穫する人）
　サンカンタンドバロンでは、ワイン醸造業者が記録的な猛暑を考慮し、ブドウを収穫する従来の段取りを変更した。
　「シャトー・ド・スール」の責任者、セバスチャン・ジャッキー氏はＡＦＰに対し、労働時間を１日８時間から６時間に短縮し、風が吹かない午後の猛暑と湿度を避けるため、収穫作業は午前７時から始めていると話した。
　ここのオーナーは、中国電子商取引大手アリババ（阿里巴巴）の創業者、馬雲（ジャック・マー）氏だ。
　ジャッキー氏は熱中症対策について、「１列分の収穫が終わったら必ず休憩を取り、常に水分補給して、帽子や日焼け止めクリームで身を守り、気分が悪くなったら誰かに知らせること」だと説明した。
　母親と一緒に初めてブドウの収穫作業に参加したという女性（３５）は、こうした方針を心掛け、こまめに水を飲んでいたにもかかわらず、熱中症になってしまったと話す。
　「動悸（どうき）が激しくなって、めまいと耳鳴り、悪寒がし始めた」と言う。
　同じくブドウの収穫作業をしていた男性（４２）は、重要なのは木陰で作業することだと語った。
　「息苦しくなってきたら、それだけ暑くなり、危険が増す」と話した。
　■熱波がプラスに働く可能性も
　仏気象局によると、現在の熱波は猛烈で長期に及び、特に通常よりも遅い時期に発生している。安定した高気圧によって全国的にヒートドームが形成されており、風がほとんど吹かないとしている。
　ワイン用のブドウを収穫する人にとって熱波は過酷だが、醸造業者にとっては良い点もある。
　ボルドー地方では今年、うどんこ病の深刻な被害が広がっているが、ブドウの実の成熟過程の終わりに熱波が続いたことがプラスに働く可能性がある。
　ワイン醸造業者団体「ボルドー・エ・ボルドー・シュペリウール」のステファン・ガバール代表は、熱波によって「（ブドウの実の）腐敗が止まり、乾燥によりあらゆる病気も絶たれるので、それほど悪いことではない」と話す。
　ブドウの収穫時期は、国内各地で異なり、ブドウの種類、その土地の気象条件、醸造家が求めるワインの風味やアルコール度数で決まる。南部のブドウ園では通常、８月に収穫が始まり、１０月に終わるが、気候変動の影響で、開始時期は年々前倒しになってきている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/09/13-17:08）

Grape-pickers were out in French vineyards Tuesday bringing in this year's harvest in torrid conditions as temperatures shot past 40C in some areas of the country during a heat dome weather pattern that has brought misery to millions.
In Saint-Quentin-de-Baron in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, local winemakers have adapted the picking routines to take into account some of the hottest temperatures on record for this time of year.
Sebastien Jacquey, director of the Chateau de Sours, told AFP that shifts had been reduced to six hours a day, instead of eight, and that teams were starting at 7 am to avoid the suffocating heat and humidity of the wind-free afternoons.
Teams armed with secateurs and boxes were reminded of safety routines as they headed out Tuesday to the neat rows of vines, which are owned by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma.
Remember to take a break at the end of a line, keep yourself hydrated, protect yourself with hats and sun cream, but also let someone know if you don't feel well, Jacquey said.
Despite the guidelines and drinking regularly, Aurore Bernard, a 35-year-old picker doing her first harvest with her mother, said she had fallen ill on Monday.
I felt my heart start to beat rapidly, I felt dizzy, heard noises and felt very, very cold, she told AFP.
Fellow worker Anthony Chappel, 42, said the key was using the shade of the vines to work in.
The more suffocating it is, the more you get hot and the more dangerous it is, he said as he headed out with the forecast for a peak of 34C in the afternoon.
I don't think there'll be any wind today. It'll be torrid.
- 'Intense' heatwave -
French authorities have placed roughly half of the 96 departments on the mainland on the second-highest heat warning level, with four areas around the southern Rhone valley placed in the maximum red category.
Temperatures are expected to peak there at 40-42C on Tuesday (104-107F).
The country as a whole experienced its hottest day ever recorded after August 15 on Monday when the national average was clocked at 26.63C, according to the national weather service Meteo France.
It has called the current heatwave intense and long-lasting and particularly late in the season, with a period of stable high pressure creating a heat dome over the country with little wind.
In the sweltering southeastern city of Lyon, 26-year-old PR worker Emma Solet told AFP it was 29C in her apartment at 6:30 am and she had bought herself an air-conditioner for the first time.
It's not good for the planet, I know, and it actually didn't work, she explained. I took it back to the shop. The heat is in the walls.
The heatwave is also affecting the normally cool Alps where mountaineers preparing to tackle Mont Blanc have been urged by local authorities to delay scaling the summit of western Europe's highest mountain.
Officials in the Haute-Savoie region, which includes the French side of Mont Blanc, said there were higher-than-usual risks of rockfalls on the regular routes up the mountain, as well as new crevices opening up on its glaciers.
Swiss weather authorities said Monday that a new record had been set for the altitude of the so-called zero-degree line in the Alps -- the height at which the temperature dips below zero degrees Celsius.
It was clocked overnight from Sunday to Monday at 5,298 metres, which constitutes a record since monitoring began in 1954, MeteoSwiss said.
- 'Not such a bad thing' -
For the wine harvest in France, the heatwave could bring some cheer to vintners, if not their workers.
The Bordeaux region has been badly hit by mildew this year and the burst of heat at the end of ripening process could be positive.
It stops rot and dries out any illnesses, so it's not such a bad thing, said Stephane Gabard, head of the Bordeaux et Bordeaux Superieur winemakers' group.
The timing of grape harvesting varies around the country depending on the type of grapes, local weather conditions and the flavours and alcohol content desired by the wine maker, with southern vineyards usually kicking off the season in August.
The start of the picking season, which generally ends in October, has been advancing year-on-year due to climate change.