Champagne : "Unless climate catastrophe, we should start harvesting in the second fortnight of August"

According to the French agency AFP, after two months of continuous sunshine in Champagne-Ardenne, professionals find that grapes’ development is ahead by three weeks and expect an early harvest, around August 25.

“The flowering of the vines is ahead by three weeks on a normal year, ” said Dominique Moncomble, director of technical services of the Interprofessional Committee for Wine of Champagne (CIVC).

He said the harvest in Champagne statistically begins about 93 days after flowering, and “unless climate catastrophe, we should start harvesting in the second fortnight of August, ” he said. “This is an atypical situation in Champagne, where vine growers are more used to harvest mid-September, but that is no sign regarding the quality of the crop at this stage, ” he said.

According to Meteo-France, the months of March and April were exceptionally sunny in Champagne-Ardenne, with an increase in temperature by around five degrees compared to normal.