Wildfires near Bordeaux bring more troubles to France's wine industry

SADIRAC, France -- From his vineyards in Bordeaux wine country, Edouard le Grix de la Salle can sometimes smell the burning forests far away. The smoke brings a whiff of hardship for the region's economic fortunes.Wildfires that have burned an area four times the size of Paris and driven 220,000 people from homes and some of the region's tourist attractions promise to sting France's already squeezed economy.“It’s a physical apocalypse when you see all these sites where there’s nothing left aside from burnt homes and forests, and then there’s the economic apocalypse,” said Patrick Seguin, president of the regional chamber of commerce, his voice choking with emotion in a phone interview. It's “going to be a stab in the back for what remains of our economy.”Le Grix de la Salle is among entrepreneurs bracing for pain. French government appeals for people to avoid the region are causing consternation. “It’s incredible that they’ve said such a thing, especially when wine tourism is becoming more and more important,” Le Grix de la Salle said.Bordeaux’s legendary wine has seen consumption plunge as young people turn to other beverages and competition from vineyards abroad has grown. U.S. P...