Ahead of harvesting, which is due to start next week, winemakers are talking about an incomparable vintage in Champagne with the heaviest bunches ever recorded.
It was during a visit to Champagne on Tuesday this week that I noticed something different about the vineyards as I sped passed them in a car from Reims to Louvois on my way to visit Champagne Laurent-Perrier. Wherever one looked, one could see vast bunches of grapes on the vines, each plant supporting a great mass of bulbous berries, which were deeply-coloured in the case of the Pinot Noir in the Montagne de Reims sub region (pictured above). On arrival at Laurent-Perrier, my sense that the vintage looked bountiful was confirmed by Lucie Pereyre de Nonancourt, who represents the fourth generation at the Champagne house and looks after its prestige cuvée Grand Siècle. “The bunches are heavy, and way above the usual weight,” she said, adding, “There are more berries on each bunch, and they are full of juice – the yields are high this year.” Later on that day, during a discussion with Maximilien Bernardeau, who has been cellar master at Laurent-Perrier since July – although he joined the house in January – it became clear that the weight of the bunches this year are higher than ever before. “We have the heaviest grapes ever in Champagne – the weight is more than 220 grams per bunch,” he said, remarking that the Comité Champagne record “every parameter” of the vintage, so he could
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Champagne