Climate crisis pushes French winemakers to bet on warmer future in Brittany and Normandy

In a green valley in Normandy, rows of grapevines stretch across slopes where an apple orchard once stood. In a land long associated with cider and Calvados, winemaker Sebastien Fricker is betting that a warming climate can turn one of France's northernmost regions into its newest wine country. "These days, to have a fine vineyard and good grapes, you really need a stable climate from spring right through to autumn," said Fricker. "And at the moment, Normandy is very well suited to that." The heir to five generations of winemakers in the Loire Valley left his family's historic wine-growing region in central France as climate change and worsening soil quality made growing conditions increasingly challenging. "I really couldn't see myself taking on another vineyard in the Loire," the 36-year-old said. "That's what led me to Normandy. I thought: perhaps it's time to take a step back and consider what the next 50 years of viticulture might look like." In 2020, Fricker settled on four hectares of land in a village in the Calvados department, about a 30-minute drive from the seaside resort of Deauville. He now grows two white and two red grape varieties, including Chardonnay and Cabernet...