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Vintage 2018
With record-breaking rainfall in the winter, ample sunshine hours in the spring and summer and the earliest harvest on record, the 2018 harvest in Champagne was truly unique. Its prematurity, abundant volume, ripeness and healthiness left many producers singing its praises upon harvest. Following a wet winter, budbreak occurred in April, from which moment onwards growth was accelerated. The outstanding conditions led to vigorous vegetative growth and an abundance of healthy bunches. The hot summer continued throughout July and August, and the harvest officially began on August 20th (though the first grapes were actually picked on August 17th by André Beaufort in Ambonnay - the earliest harvest on record). An average of 12,361 kg/ha was produced but the agronomic yield was actually much higher, varying largely between 16,000-19,000 kg/ha. Wineries all over the region were full to the brim, with the greatest difficulty facing most producers being locating containers for all the wines. Consequently, the 2018 harvest was also used to replace less impressive wines in the reserves, which was especially welcome due to the disastrous results from 2017. Even if the year was extraordinary for the vinegrower and winemaker, the jury is still out regarding its quality. The wines are perfectly clean and plush but notably low on acidity (average total acidity 5.9 g/l), thus there is a distinct softness to them. However, some producers (such as Louis Roederer) were able to produce wines with laudably low pHs (an average of 2.8 for Roederer) and such wines are certainly not lacking drive or vivacity.
