French champagne makers expecting best harvest in decade
Winegrowers’ union welcomes early harvest after several years of unsatisfying crops due to bad weather
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Champagne makers in eastern France are raising a toast to the early arrival of what is expected to be a vintage year following a record harvest.
A combination of a wet spring followed by a sweltering heatwave means the harvest has started at the end of August for most vineyards instead of September, which is usually the norm. Thousands of winegrowers are now expecting to yield a huge crop.
Maxime Toubart, president of Champagne winegrowers’ union, welcomed the early harvest after several years of unsatisfying crops due to bad weather.
“The last few years have been tough, this year is expected to be exceptionally good so we are very happy,” she said.
The Champagne winegrowers’ union added that more than 15,000 Champagne winegrowers will now harvest between 13,000 and 16,000kg of grapes per hectare.
Every year, 310 million bottles of French Champagne are sold worldwide. Experts are now predicting a sharp rise in production, up 56 percent from last year to 3.5 million hectolitres,
"We have never experienced this before in the Champagne region, in terms of quantity and quality," said Jean-Marie Barillere, president of the Champagne houses' union.
"This will enable us to put into cellar amazing wines which will be on the market in three years," he added.
While the majority of winegrowers are celebrating an exceptional harvest and high quality grapes, others believe it signals the beginning of long-term change for the Champagne region. Thirty years ago, harvests were known to be as late as October.
Winegrower Eric Rodez, who runs his own vineyards and operates a 1936-built traditional press, has attributed the change to global warming.
“Because of climate change, we have to be prepared to regularly harvest in August,” he said.
Additional reporting from Reuters
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments