Correns: a winegrower facing the ravages of the historic Var fire

The leaves of the vine plants have lost their greenness and become dry and brown, as if they were dead. The bunches of grapes are all withered. It feels like autumn. But it is August 19, in the heart of summer, in the wine-growing town of Correns. “It’s all fire,” breathes Denis Mistre, 75 years old and “always a winemaker” in this small village in the Var. The one his colleagues nickname “the old one” shows with annoyance a row of vines which border a blackened earth. Behind, the spectacle is desolate. On the hill, as far as the eye can see, charred trees line up.

On July 21, an exceptionally large fire broke out not far away, spreading throughout the region. Set at the beginning of August, the fire was not officially extinguished until Tuesday August 18, thus becoming the longest recorded in Var. The fire covered 6,300 hectares in total and burned 5,700 hectares of vegetation, encircling…