The 2022 Harvest in Champagne: an exceptional Vintage

Abundant harvests, high quality grapes, plenty of reserves...

Winegrowers have rarely known such an amazing year!

In the Champagne vineyards, the dates for the start of the harvest were staggered, depending on the commune, from Monday 22nd of August to the 5th of September, i.e. a fortnight earlier than last year. 
In Aube, some Maisons obtained exemptions to start harvesting on the 18th of August. This is the eighth harvest to start in August since 2003.
Almost completed in the whole of the Champagne appellation, the 2022 harvest has confirmed its early but "out of the ordinary" character.

A CLIMATE FAVOURABLE TO THE GOOD DEVELOPMENT OF THE VINE

This hot and dry summer has made the happiness of the Champagne Winegrowers with an excellent quality, as well as quantity.
In fact, despite the high temperatures and the drought that have hit the region in recent months, the grapes were in perfect health, with sugar and aromatic richness well above average. The extreme weather conditions even worked in favour of the harvest. 
The heat and the dry weather allowed the vines to grow without humidity and therefore without parasite attacks, which facilitated the work in the vineyards for the protection against diseases.
The presence of chalk in the region's soils, which allows humidity to be conserved, and the short spells of rain did the rest.

RESERVES TO BE RECONSTITUTED

The 2022 harvest comes after two eventful years.

• The year 2020 stands out because of its excellence and its maximum yield, which was limited to only 8,000 kg/ha because of the economic situation linked to the health crisis.
• Vice versa 2021 is a difficult year for the Champagne vineyards which had not experienced such a low harvest due to climatic hazards - frost and hail in spring followed by a rainy summer and attacks of mildew - since the 1950s. These weather conditions reduced the annual harvest by almost 50%. The winegrowers have thus largely used up their "reserves" formed from the wines of previous years. These stocks can be at least partially replenished with the 2022 harvest.  

YIELD

The yield for the 2022 harvest has been set at 12,000 kg/ha, its highest level for fifteen years, and the maximum yield, including the reserve, was set at 16,500 kg/ha in order to encourage the reconstitution of the interprofessional reserve. 
This is the decision taken by the executive committee of the Champagne Committee, eager not to lose a single berry of this qualitative and quantitative harvest. 

This decision is due to the exceptional quality of the grapes in the vineyards and the need for both the winegrowers and the Maison to reconstitute the reserves of stocked wines as quickly as possible,
A measure that is part of a particular context in Champagne, after two complicated years, one economically, the other agronomically.says Maxime Toubart, co-president of the Champagne Committee and president of the winegrowers' union.

Even if the harvest is not yet over and the wines are far from being made, we can already say that 2022 in Champagne has been an exceptional year!
We can't dream of anything better, in quantity and quality.

And now that you know everything, check our Boutique to choose your Cuvées and celebrate with us the 2022 harvest in Champagne!

Cin cin et à votre santé!