Luck smiles on the people of Champagne. “We are still waiting for the month of August, but, for now, all the lights are green in the vineyards”, rejoices Maxime Toubart, president of the General Union of Champagne Winegrowers. If the episode of spring frost has raised fears, the damage ultimately remains limited. Obviously, this northern vineyard was not spared by the rains of May and June and consequently by the attacks of mildew. But, contrary to Bordeaux where the disease took hold, in Champagne, the rainy episodes were followed by drier periods which made it possible to treat the vines.
The winegrowers are crossing their fingers and are now waiting for the justice of the peace of the harvest. They will have to wait a bit. No early harvest this year. The first strokes of the secateurs should be given at the very beginning of September and the real start will be between September 5 and 10. It is in this context, a priori favorable, that the traditional meeting between winegrowers and champagne houses was held on Wednesday July 19 to decide on the yield before the harvest. It was set at 11,400 kilos per hectare.
“ This yield is a little higher compared to what we planned to sell. To be in line with marketing forecasts, it should have been set at 11,000 kilos per hectare, but it is always difficult to leave grapes on the vines if the harvest is good. », explains Mr. Toubart. Indeed, the Interprofessional Champagne Wine Committee estimates each year the number of bottles of sparkling wine that should come out of the cellars. Faced with his sales hopes, he weighs the volume of grapes needed. A delicate management, carried out jointly by the winegrowers and the trading houses to try to maintain the valuation of the sparkling wine and ensure the best sharing of the jackpot.
In 2020, the sector had been shaken by the crisis due to Covid-19. With the closure of restaurants and the shutdown of tourism, the champagne no longer flowed freely. The yield was then set at the lowest, at 8,000 kilos per hectare. In 2021, the weather had played the spoilsport. As a result, the level of reserves was falling and houses had to put in place allocation measures to serve their customers. Especially since the corks had started to jump again very quickly after the deconfinements. The following year, the Champagne Committee therefore decided to open the floodgates a little more during the harvest. The commercial yield had reached 12,000 kilos of grapes per hectare, unheard of since 2008.
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