Is this the end of Champagne as we know it? Two of the last three harvests have started in August, in a region once so cold it was considered to be at the limit of where fine wine could be produced. André Simon, writing in The History of Champagne (1962), tells us that “…grapes cannot ripen fully more than once every three or four years.” However, a look at recent results suggests that the opposite is now true, and that today, in Champagne, grapes cannot fail to ripen fully more than once every three or four years.
Historically, producers reserved wines from great vintages to blend with wines from challenging harvests. Vintage-dated wines were less common. In the most recent decade, however, Champagne has experienced an abundance of vintage-quality weather. There were only two poor harvests, 2011 and 2017, and vintage wine was made even in those years, some of it delicious. As for 2020, results are not yet finalized, since vintage Champagne requires a minimum of three years of aging before it is released, and base wines from 2020 are not yet ready for blending. Yet Hervé Dantan, chef de cave at Lanson, has already been trumpeting the third vintage year in a row, even as the 2020 harvest shattered all records for the earliest vintage on record: Picking officially started on August 17, although there were growers in the southern reaches of the region who were allowed to begin as early as August 13.
Some in Champagne will be quick to point out that current trends are not due solely to climate change: 1988, 1989 and 1990 are considered very successful, and ’89 and ’90 were both hot vintages. And in his most recent harvest report, Louis Roederer chef de cave Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon writes that the “trilogy” of 1898, 1899 and 1900 featured even higher levels of potential alcohol and lower acidity than seen in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Recently, I met with Moët & Chandon chef de cave Benoît Gouez, who pointed out that all ten of the vintages with the lowest acidity levels in the past century have been declared. Gouez is a champion of the 2003 vintage, which had the second-lowest acidity of the century after 1959. He pulled out a late-disgorged version of the 2003 vintage to taste, and it showed well indeed. In fact, my own tasting experience shows that Champagnes from “hot” vintages can age extraordinarily well. One of the greatest bottles of Champagne I have ever enjoyed was a 1959 Roederer Cristal as it approached 60 years of age. Now a rarity, it led me to wonder what influence warmer summers will have on vintage Champagne closer to our day.
Some of the larger grande marque houses such as Veuve Clicquot and Taittinger are still selling their 2012. This vintage was harvested at 11 percent potential alcohol, compared to the more usual range of 9 to 10 percent. Yet the fruit still retained enough acidity to provide plenty of backbone and structure for the wines: At harvest, the average was 7.8 grams per liter (g/l), as compared to the warmest vintages, where it can be just under 6 g/l.
One way to retain freshness in warm-vintage Champagne is to reduce or eliminate the dosage—the sweetening agent that Champagne makers customarily add at the end of the aging period. They label the wine Extra Brut when they add less than 6 g/l, or Brut Nature when they add no dosage. This is an increasingly common practice, particularly in the Côte des Bar, in the warm southern reaches of Champagne. One delicious success is Champagne Marie Courtin, where winemaker Dominique Moreau does not use any dosage outside of her small production of rosé, yet her wines offer a creamy texture and lots of richness. Brut Nature is not limited to grower Champagnes from the Côte des Bar, however: Louis Roederer has introduced two Brut Nature Champagnes in partnership with designer Philippe Starck. The first vintage was 2006 (released in 2014), and the current releases are from 2012.
Other growers prefer to modulate the freshness of their Champagnes by blocking malolactic conversion, a process that transforms malic acid into lactic acid and tends to soften the wine. In the sort of growing seasons once considered classic, in which temperatures began falling in August, the wines naturally retained a lot of tart malic acid. However, the heat spikes common to recent years have caused malic acid to drop at the end of the ripening season. Fourth-generation winemaker Nicolas Jaeger at Champagne Alfred Gratien prefers to keep the malic acid intact by blocking malolactic, then balancing the wine as needed with a bit of dosage. The results can be convincing, as in his 2009 Blanc de Blancs Brut, a wine that maintains a crisp, refreshing character despite the heat of the year.
Another way to adapt is in the vineyard, farming some of the “heritage” varieties in Champagne. Nearly all contemporary Champagne is produced from chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier. These “big three” each account for approximately one-third of current plantings in Champagne. However, pinot blanc, pinot gris, arbane and petit meslier are also permitted. Although these varieties represent less than two percent of the planted area in Champagne today, many growers are paying more attention to arbane and petit meslier, in particular, due to the lively acidity they can offer a blend. At Champagne Bollinger, assistant cellar master Denis Brunner reports that, in the hot, early vintage of 2018, Bollinger harvested these two grapes at pHs below 3.0, which may help them sustain the acidity they so prize in their Champagne.
Pascal Agrapart, in Avize, is also experimenting with these varieties. Agrapart replanted a halfacre vineyard, La Fosse à Bull, in 2003 to chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot blanc, pinot meunier, arbane and petit meslier, which he harvests as a field blend. His most recent release, based on the 2016 vintage, includes 20 percent reserve wine from the 2015 vintage. The wine shows the advantages of this approach through its vibrant freshness.
Agrapart is bullish on the latest season: “The 2020 vintage is along the lines of the greatest years for the growers who knew how to wait for ripeness (as in 2007, 2011 and 2017). Maturity and acidity are excellent; the grapes are very healthy, and everything has come together.” As growers seek to meet the challenges of global warming, Champagne’s once marginal climate has turned to their advantage.
The Past Decade in Champagne
2010
A year of rain and rot almost redeemed by a beautiful September.
2011
A challenging year. Warm conditions early on degenerated to cool, rainy weather for much of the summer—high incidence of rot.
2012
From the worst to the best. After frost hit several times early in the year, rain set in until flowering. Dry conditions prevailed, however, from the middle of July through harvest, producing superb grapes.
2013
A late harvest of uneven quality. A year troubled by early hail and rain improved significantly in July and August. Rains returned, however, in September, bringing rot and dilution.
2014
An up-and-down year that ended well. Rain on and off all year brought on sour rot and drosophila flies, which took ingenuity and persistence to combat.
2015
A hot, dry year, yet not quite a replay of 2003, as there was a fortnight of rain at the end of August to refresh the vines. The chief issue was low acidity.
2016
A problematic season that ended well. Floods and drought, frosts and sunburn, downy mildew everywhere. The rain stopped at the end of July and the balance of the season saw warm, dry weather, preventing the spread of rot.
2017
A challenging year with rain and rot at harvest. Few finished wines have been released yet, but some show considerable promise, despite the conditions.
2018
A new record for heat and sun. Huge yields, big alcohol, low acidity. No wines released yet; however, the base wines show promise.
2019
The year was warm early on, then frost hit, followed by cold weather just before flowering. In mid-June, fine weather returned. Two heat waves over the summer saw record temperatures of more than 107° F and led to sunburn. Although sorting was necessary, good results are certainly possible.
2020
The harvest was earlier than ever before. It was a scorching year, but although there may be issues with low acidity, the outlook is positive, especially for those who waited for true ripeness in their grapes.
This story appears in the print issue
of December 2020.
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