The battle against the champions of reproduction

Dangerous oenologists: wild boars in the vineyards

 As if climate change – with its heatwaves and extreme episodes of hail, frost and drought – weren’t enough! In Provence and across France, winegrowers are facing another uncontrollable challenge: wild boars. All of us who work in the vineyards have come face to face with this omnivore, which is, in fact, a very good oenologist. Wild boars often detect the perfect harvest time and start picking just a few days before our team. And they love Syrah! 

It has always been difficult to estimate the percentage of the harvest we’ve lost to these gluttonous creatures, but it has certainly averaged between 10 and 15 per cent over the last ten years. Since the Covid pandemic, however – whilst a curfew was imposed on humans but not on wild boars – the situation has worsened. Electric fences, which used to be the standard form of protection, are no longer sufficient to keep out wild animals, which are becoming increasingly thirsty. All the more so as news of a weak spot in the fence or a faulty electric system spreads very quickly amongst them.

The figures published by the hunting federations are staggering: around 900,000 wild boars were killed during the 2024–2025 hunting season in France – 25 times more than in the 1970s. In France, wild boars cause more than 20,000 road accidents every year and… the wild boar population is tripling every year!

Given the scale of the challenges posed by climate change, we can no longer afford to suffer losses against which we have, at least in theory, the means to take action. Nor do we believe the predictions that wolves will restore a healthy balance in the near future. And hunters, too, cause damage to vineyards.
What remains? Over the past two years, we have decided, where possible, to install reinforced, galvanised fencing 1.5 metres high, along with a 60-centimetre-wide protective mesh extending outwards at ground level – which prevents wild boars from digging under the fence. The cost? Around €25 per meter.