Champagne: early harvest and an exceptional vintage expected!

In order not to miss the date of the harvest, the winegrowers must redouble their attention and analysis to evaluate the perfect maturity of the grapes. Let's see in detail how!

The MATU Network 

The grapes reach their optimal maturity in a variable timeframe, more or less long. To harvest them at their optimum quality, it is necessary to know the level of ripeness of the grapes. The aim is, of course, to make a wine that retains its freshness and delicacy, while revealing the diversity and subtle complexity of the terroirs with the right maturity. 
In order to determine the optimal date for harvesting, to have the best quality grapes and consequently the best wines, samples are taken every week.
Early in the morning, on Mondays and Thursdays, bunches of grapes are picked, weighed, pressed and their juice immediately analysed in order to measure the total sugar content, inducing the degree of alcohol in power, the rate of acidity and to calculate the ripeness index of the grapes.
The first monitoring of grape ripening in Champagne dates back to the mid-fifties, following the loss of a harvest whose date had been badly chosen. 
In order to organise this monitoring, a ripening monitoring network was set up, called the "MATU Network" (for ripening).
This network grew rapidly from 1987 onwards, with a protocol for taking and measuring samples in a network of plots representative of the entire Champagne appellation.
By sharing information and adopting the same method of analysis, the winegrowers have a very valuable tool at their disposal and each sector can thus have its own date for the beginning of the harvest.

Each year, after flowering, the Matu network is activated and starts taking samples four to five weeks before the estimated harvest date. Depending on the evolution of the ripening as the harvest approaches, the winegrowers of the winegrowing communes meet and submit, according to the results, an opening date to the validation of the technical commission sitting on the Champagne Committee, before the prefectoral decree which will officially fix the date.

Tasting the berries to refine the harvest

The degree and acidity are not enough to determine the quality of the grapes to be harvested, the aromas given off by the berries play an essential part in the potential of the future wine.
An ancestral and intuitive technique, berry tasting is increasingly practiced by winegrowers.

"Two weeks before the presumed harvest date, we start tasting the berries when we take samples for the Matu network," the winegrowers explain.
"We know that the phenological maturity of the grape is not necessarily reached when it shows the degree required for the harvest. We know that the phenological maturity of the grapes is not necessarily reached when they are at the right level for harvesting, so we sometimes have to wait for additional ripening in order to obtain the best quality and to establish the best harvesting route."

During these tasting sessions, the winemaker examines each berry picked. 
He successively tastes the skin, the pulp and the pips to evaluate the sweetness, the acidity, the fruit, he notes the aromas, the flavours, the sensations...
This tasting reveals information that is not available from chemical analysis: for example, aromas in the pulp or tannins in the skin or astringent or aggressive pips show that maturity has not been reached. 
All this information will complement that of the Matu network in deciding when to open the pruning shears in the vineyard.

The harvest in the Champagne vineyard began on August 22nd.
First comments: "You can't ask for better, in quantity and quality!"

And now that you know everything, come to our Boutique to choose your Cuvées and celebrate the beginning of the harvest in Champagne!

Cin cin et à votre santé !