Champagne Triumphs Through Adversity | Wine-Searcher News & Features

After a rough 2020, most Champenois had great hopes for 2021. And, if sales have almost bounced back to the 2019 levels, it’s been a rough year in the vineyard.

After a wet and damp winter, which dragged on longer than the previous years, the already late budding vines were hit mid-April by severe spring frosts. The cold may have been slightly less bitter than at other times this decade in Champagne, but its soggy character wrote off one third of the crops at the beginning of the growing season. The Aube department was hardest hit, with some winemakers in the Côte des Bar losing their complete crop before the season really could take off.

After the frost the rain returned and a continuous dousing of the vineyards during spring slowed down the vines evolution and provided the ideal conditions for a massive downy mildew outbreak before flowering. When it finally turned hot at the end of June, growers regained hope that flowering would escape the worst of the (downy) mildew, only to find themselves inundated by monsoon rains and, in some areas, severe hailstorms caused by violent thunderstorms. One of these storms also caused a tornado to rip through the vineyards around Reims and up the Vallée de la Marne, flattening whole vineyards. Most growers managed to pull at least part of their vineyard installation back up, but many of their vines, especially those which barely survived the spring frosts, were too weak to effectively fight the increasing downy mildew pressure. By the beginning of July, the majority of those vines had lost most of their foliage and the season was over here as well.

All through July, the rain continued to pelt down with very little dry windows to treat. The grand finale came around Bastille Day, when the usual fireworks were replaced by 72 hours of incessant rainfall, accumulating up to 150 ml (9 inches) of water in some areas. By the time the sun timidly reappeared at the end of the month, many grapes were tainted by brown rot, further exacerbating yield losses. Despite a decrease in showers, August remained humid, providing the ideal conditions for grey rot development. The relatively cool temperatures also slowed down the ripening process, especially in the Côte des Blancs, where yields were higher as the sub-region avoided most of the season’s calamities. Nevertheless, the near 100-percent humidity in August and September caused some late powdery mildew outbreaks and botrytis in many of the Chardonnay vineyards there.

Dominique Demarville, chef de caves at Champagne Lallier, gave a very apt synopsis by calling 2021 a GMB (Frost – gèle – Mildew and Botrytis) year. He also pointed out that until the mid-’90s, late September harvests were common and known to be complicated. “As we get closer to autumn, the grapes struggle to ripen, but at the same time they are starting to rot on the vines, making the harvest trickier.”

Twists in the tale

And in line with the growing season, the 2021 champagne harvest was indeed a convoluted affair. There were precisely 21 days between the earliest picking dates – set at September 6 for Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier in several villages in the Côte des Bar – and the latest one, set at 27 September for Chardonnay in Grauve in the Côte des Blancs. For some, picking lasted just a few days, for others it dragged on for weeks. It all depended on where one’s vines were located and what the desired picking goals were. In theory, the latter should have been to pick healthy and ripe grapes but, in a system dominated by quantity, this is not always the case. Especially since the appellation had been set at 10,000 kg/ha, which many feel was excessively high, considering the actual yields in the vineyards.

The Champenois system is unique in that it sets its maximum yield in line with forecasted sales. Since the region hopes to rebound to 300 million bottles by the end of the year, the pickable (and sellable) yield has been set on this criterion. What rubbed many a grower up the wrong way was that this yield was capped at 8000 kg/ha in 2020, while there were plenty of grapes on the vines, while this year it clearly exceeded the vineyard yields.

It may pay to point out here, that on top of the sellable yield, growers can pick more (generally 3000 kg/ha) to build up their Individual Reserve (RI), which has been capped by the Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité (INAO) at 8000 kg/ha.

Whatever remains in the vineyard after this, is also picked and stored (after pressing) as Vin Ordinaire (VO) or Dépassement de Plafond Limite de Classement (DPLC) before it is distilled after the following harvest. The RI and DPLC/VO are often defended as “general quality enhancers”; the RI allows (at least in theory) growers to pick the rot out at harvest without having to worry if the appellation will be met, while the DPLC provides winemakers with the opportunity to exchange substandard juices with higher-quality wines of a previous year, or exchange substandard wines with higher quality juice.

However in reality, most growers selling by the kilo are very reluctant to dig into their RI (often driven by the deferred payment conditions), and will thus pick everything – especially in years were yields are small – knowing full well that the substandard juice will be exchanged by the DPLC, of which there is plenty around after last year’s abundant harvest.

© MKB
| While it’s unlikely to be the vintage of the decade, it could have been a lot worse.

This explains the diverging picking approach of different growers, and sheds hence light on the widely differentiating interpretation of the 2021 harvest. In the words of Eric Rodez, of Champagne Eric Rodez: “Today there are two opposing visions of Champagne, there are those who want to make a technically correct but neutral wine, and those who prefer to express the unique character of the vintage and their terroir.”  Many players in the first category are dependent on others for their grape (or wine) supply, whilst the ones with the latter vision tend to draw upon their own vineyards to make their own cuvées.

A vintage year?

For many chefs de caves, 2021 is a good year, but not exceptional, and most are reluctant, at least at this point in time, to commit to vintage cuvées. Cyril Brun, cellarmaster at Champagne Charles Heidsieck, is rather happy with the initial balance of the juice, and the higher malic acidity this year. Yet he told Wine-Searcher that it is unlikely he will create one of the house’s vintage cuvées.

“As chef de cave, my first duty is to produce the best non-vintage cuvée I possibly can. If I take the best wines to create a vintage cuvée, I may not be able to do this.”

Demarville has a similar point of view on the non-vintage cuvée, but also believes that it is important to store some of the more interesting 2021 wines as part of the house’s reserve library to assure a continuation of style and flavor profile. Besides, for him, 2021 is unlikely to be the vintage of the century (or even the decade), either in quality or quantity, but he pointed out that it is far from being the worst vintage as well. Both Brun and Demarville admitted that their respective houses would not meet the appellation yield in their own vineyards.

The lack of quantity, and thus the ability to meet the appellation, is probably the only constant of the harvest. Overall, average yields are well below 10,000 kg/ha, even if some areas are harder hit than other. The subject of quality, on the other hand, reveals a plethora of opinions even if everyone agrees the vintage will deliver good base wines (with or without the help of last year’s DPLC)

Alice Paillard, of Champagne Bruno Paillard, was very happy with this year’s harvest, overall. “The yields of course are not obvious, but the quality of the grapes and juices are very promising. A nice surprise after a difficult summer.”

Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, chef de cave at Champagne Roederer was even bolder. “With only a few days to go until the end of harvest, our average potential alcoholic degree in the cellar is 10.7, the acidity rate is between 7 and 8 g/l for an average pH of 3.07. I therefore feel that 2021 has more than the necessary potential to make stellar vintage wines.”

Lécaillon confirmed that it is very likely that he will make Cristal as well as the usual vintage cuvées. Cristal rosé is the only exception; it will not be produced this year.

Vincent Couche, a biodynamic winemaker in the Côte des Bar goes even further as Lécaillon in his assessment of the vintage. “In my opinion, 2021, like 2012, will be one of the great but rare vintages of Champagne.” Couche said that he would not be making any non-vintage Champagne this year, to instead focus on Sensation and ADN, his vintage range. All in all, Couche is also relatively happy with his overall yield, which he estimates to be between 5000 and 6000 kg/ha (he is still harvesting at time of writing), which is not bad considering he lost a lot to frost.

Lécaillon is another of the few winemakers happy with his overall yield, which he estimates to be “a small 8000 kg/ha” especially since Champagne Roederer will received its organic certification on 110 hectares of vines this year. “We are living proof that organic grape growing in Champagne is possible even in the most complicated years.”

Organic winegrowers suffered indeed more than conventional growers as their use of copper is restricted while conventional winegrowers can use as many pesticides as needed. Moreover, copper is a contact treatment, which means it will wash off in the rain while chemical pesticides are absorbed by the vine.

More than anything, the vineyard location determined the eventual yield outcome this year. Many chefs de cave sang the praises of the grand cru villages this harvest, as indeed they remained relatively unscathed compared to the rest of the region. As explained by Lécaillon, the grand cru status refers not only to the exceptional quality of the terroir, but also to the guarantee to produce a decent annual crop. After all, to make (great) wine year after year, one needs a constant supply of grapes.