Wine blight 1863

French wine-makers are struck with a Phylloxera (an almost microscopic insect, similar to aphids) infestation that begins to reach across Europe. Between two-thirds and nine-tenths of European vineyards are lost to the vine-sapping blight, with wine production in France dropping from 84.5 million hectolitres in 1875 to 23.4 million hectolitres in 1889.