Unpredictability in the weather is an ever-growing concern for many producers. In Drinks International’s Most Admired Champagne Brands 2024, Giles Fallowfield wrote in the harvest report, based on an interview with Charles Philipponnat: “As for how to deal with harvests like 2023 in future: ‘Reacting early and reducing the yield by thinning the number of bunches on each plant would have been a good idea facing such a hugely ‘promising’ harvest. It’s not part of Champagne’s historical practices, but it should be contemplated.’”
With 2023 seeing a record yield due to an optimal continental climate, 2024 has been quite the opposite. President of Champagne Drappier, Michel Drappier tells DI: “Last year, we had a big crop so grape thinning was a good idea, but if we did the same this year it would’ve been a disaster. This year was about saving the grapes, not removing them.”
The organic champagne house found this year’s harvest to be one of its smallest ever, having lost about 90% of its crops to excessive rain and frosty conditions.
Operating as an organic vineyard already poses its own set of challenges. Drappier says: “With this kind of climate change we use soft medicine and products such as sulphur and copper. These are much lighter but less efficient, so we spray more often with a lower quantity.” Due to the expense of running organic vineyards, there is “on average, 25-30% less crop than traditional viticulture, so we harvest less”.
When you’re already dealing with lower yields, cutting this more due to the climate has a bigger impact.
Unpredictable weather
Looking at the changes in climate, and tackling the loss of crops as a result, champagne houses are having to consider different tools and aspects of viticulture to adapt. “In Champagne, the rising temperature is not so much of a problem because the vineyard likes warm weather, but the main problems are with hail, frost and too much water. To be frank, we don’t know what to do,” Drappier continues. “We have plans according to specific weather conditions, but we can’t predict it, so we’re surfing the wave, not controlling it.”
However, although the vineyard likes warm weather, extreme humidity can cause problems. Hervé Dantan, cellarmaster at Champagne Lanson, says, when exposed to this humidity: “We must be able to react in the vineyard to protect the vine from diseases. For periods of high heat, this means some years of earlier harvests and if the heat lasts during this period the picking can be done earlier in the day to ensure cooler temperatures.”
Cellarmaster at Alfred Gratien, Nicolas Jaeger adds that when tackling the more extreme spectrum of weather, “green harvesting (thinning and leaf removal) in sufficient quantities enables us to use fewer inputs in the vineyard, which could be a good solution”.
De Saint-Gall has found that adaptation of plant material, changes in cultivation practices and management of wine acidity through deciding to use malolactic fermentation or not, are all useful tools in combating the climate. Cellarmaster Cédric Jacopin says: “There are many ongoing experiments. The most significant ones involve developing new disease resistant grape varieties with characteristics close to champagne standards. It is a long process.”
With the numerous ways of tackling global warming and the ever-evolving climate, Drappier has made use of reserves to combat years such as 2024, when the crop is unusually low. This year, although arguably not the best in which to do it, Drappier has invested in large underground tanks to create a champagne reserve.
The tanks “don’t need temperature control as they naturally keep the wine at 10 degrees celsius throughout the year”, says Drappier. “It’s expensive to dig, build the tanks and cover with the soil, but it’s good for the landscape and keeps the wine well. You need to build your reserve every year, it’s like saving money in the bank, and we have one and a half harvests’ worth in our reserve now to cope with the low crop.”
Dantan also notes the importance of grape selection: “Although the climate is changing and we are recognising this through harvest times, our approach to vintage development has remained the same in many ways. Lanson continues to preserve the style of its wines (in the absence of malolactic fermentation) and the freshness of each vintage. We are always more meticulous in the selection of our grapes by favouring those that come from the Grands Crus.”
Drappier agrees: “Ninety per cent of champagne is non-vintage and vintage is a big problem. This year vintage is going to be rare, but for non-vintage there will be – if the house is organised – no problem to produce beautiful champagne. It’s just a new way of making the wine, keeping it and blending it, and planning more than in the past.
“Twenty years ago we had big crops and were pressing and selling sometimes too early and under conditions where crops were much higher, so we didn’t care so much. People were also less connoisseurs than they are today. For Drappier our clientele has really changed and we have many more connoisseurs now.”
With champagne drinkers being more conscientious about the liquid, De Saint-Gall has noticed, in the context of premiumisation and that being the demand, there is a “focus on the terroir, with many single village (mono-cru) or even single-vineyard (mono-parcelle) cuvées, along with an increasing number of low-dosage cuvées”.
But looking ahead to the future of the category, it’s clear producers will have to continue to think on their feet when it comes to weather conditions affecting the vines. The consensus is a positive outlook, driven by consumers wanting good-quality champagne. Drappier adds that, nowadays: “The quality is more consistent than it used to be and I’m happy that we only produce champagne of a certain quality, which also comes with being organic. Now the future of champagne is asking the question – will we be able to produce wine under a new climate?
“The answer is yes. Some years will be big in volume, never what we have had in the past, but still a good amount, and when it is very small like this year, then we have the reserve”.
