PARIS (Reuters) -French wine production is expected to rise 3% from last year’s rain-hit season but fall 13% from the five-year average as a heatwave and drought in August and smaller vine area cut output in some key regions, the farm ministry said on Tuesday.

France, which vies with Italy and Spain for the position of the world’s largest wine producer, is expected to produce 37.4 million hectolitres (mln hl) of wine this year, it said, below an initial range of 40 mln hl-42.5 mln hl last month.

“The hot weather and drought in August affected several vineyards, particularly in Charentes, Burgundy, Beaujolais and Languedoc-Roussillon,” the ministry said.

“They reduced the juice content of the grapes and accelerated the ripening of the berries, which brought forward the harvest dates in m

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