A COMPLETELY UNPRECEDENTED SEASON
Here we are at the beginning of September, and the harvest is already in!
This year, the vines got off to a flying start, with budburst arriving very early, around March 15th. The weather is clear, the nights are crisp, and the thermal radiation coolsthe vineyards until dawn. The result? Late March frosts destroy about a third of our buds.
Then, the clusters from the remaining buds show a great potential for the harvest. By the end of May, we already see flowers in the vineyard but a May bloom is never a good sign; it doesn’t fully set, and the berries stay tiny.
Drought sets in, but the vines, deeply rooted in the chalk, don’t suffer too much. Though as the drought remains with heat waves, the vines keep the berries quite small to preserve water for its leaves.
The foliage stays vibrant, and ripening accelerates. With the small yields and intense heat, sugar levels skyrocket. The flavor ripens quickly, but with sugar levels unusually high for Champagne.
We start harvesting on August 20th—sugar levels are already over 13%!
The clusters are small, but our Chardonnay berries are perfectly golden. Tasting them, a nice freshness balances the incredible sugar content. That’s the magic of the Côte des Blancs chalk!
We pick the last Chardonnay plots, located on the coldest parts of our vineyard, with sugar levels around 12%. On August 27th, we finish with perfectly ripe and healthy Pinot Noir for our Rosé de Saignée. There is almost nothing to sift out on the sorting table!
Then, we wait until August 31st to harvest our old vines for the Vertus Rouge: stunning, ultra-concentrated Pinot Noir!
Spontaneous fermentations kicked off quickly, and the native yeast population seems well-adapted to this hot vintage. Since 1999, we’ve been thrilled to see how effective our indigenous yeasts are for every harvest.
This year is completely unlike any vintage we’ve brought in over 40 years we’ve been tending this estate. Could this season become the new normal? We were surprised to start harvesting in August back in 2018. This year, we finished in August! Six months ago, we would have bet it was impossible…
What will the 2026 vintage be like? Small quantities like 2003, drought like 1976—comparisons aren’t everything, but we hope the richness of this vintage will rival the great hot vintages like 1959, which few of us have been lucky enough to taste. So, let’s be patient and wait a few more years to enjoy the 2026 vintage!
Warmest regards,
Sophie, Pierre, Georges and Arthur