Vintage champagne years

Facebook Instagram. Cart 0. Pommery Pol Couronne Devaux J. Was yours a Vintage Year?

Talking about good champagne vintages begs the question, is there such a thing as a bad year for champagne? But applying hard and fast rules is difficult because the region is so diverse, what might be bad for chardonnay in one village may not be the case for other grapes or villages. I will get to some black and white answers soon and tell you what to stash and what to shun but first…. Sun and heat can over-ripen the grapes. A good year is generally brought about by a combination of balanced rainfall you want it steady but moderate , ideal sunshine less is better and right temperature again low is good, the annual average in Champagne is 11 degrees. The right combination of weather conditions will produce the right balance between acidity and alcohol which is based on sugar content in the grapes, which are measured in the lead up to harvest to set the optimal harvest date. And then of course, unpredictable weather events like frost, storms and hail can all damage the grapes.

Very tricky conditions, with a warm, humid autumn facilitating widespread grey rot throughout the region. The quality of Chardonnay was better than both Pinots, but whether any of them are released as single-vintage wines is by no means certain. As happened widely across France, frost and hail conspired to lower the yields in the Champagne region in Quality is generally above average, with Pinot Noir preferred to Chardonnay. Very little disease pressure, thanks to dry, sunny conditions over the summer months — the driest on record.

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