‘Exceptional’ Champagne harvest begins

The 2018 harvest in Champagne is due to begin tomorrow (21 August) it has been announced with the crop being described as “exceptional” both in quality and due to its early arrival.

At the end of last month the Comité Champagne revealed that the upper yield had been set at 10,800kg/ha.

After an exceptionally wet winter which saw 345mm of rain fall from November 2017 – January 2018 (surpassing the previous record set in 1965) the cumulative insolation from April to June were also higher than average – 750 hours as opposed to 630.

With temperatures higher than the 10-year average, there was “rapid and vigorous” vegetative growth leading to a successful flowering in June and “consistently good” weather in July and August led to the very promising looking crop.

Francoise Peretti, director of the UK Champagne Bureau, commented: “2018 will be remembered as an exceptional year: exceptional because of its early harvest date and exceptional grape quality. Though it is too early to tell, producers are hopeful this year’s harvest will produce an outstanding vintage”.