France predicts bumper champagne production this year

Seed Daily via AFP: Champagne lovers were in for a treat as official statistics released Thursday predicted that France's production of bubbly would take a 56 percent leap this year.

The Agreste statistics, drawn up by the agriculture ministry, revealed that the country's overall wine production was expected to increase 11 percent this year compared to 2012, when the harvest was particularly bad.

Champagne came out as the winner, with the ministry predicting a 56 percent rise year-on-year and a 16 percent increase compared to the average yield over the past five years.

The predictions do not however take into account severe damage incurred earlier this month by vineyards in the famed southwestern region of Bordeaux when violent storms swept the area....

Photo by Jon Sullivan, who has released it into the public domain