2013 Champagne Vintage

A cold, gloomy and very rainy winter and spring left the vines about fifteen days behind the ten-year average, and they grew very slowly until the first fine days of June. Flowering came in June or even early July depending on the area, with cool nights slowing it and causing notable coulure and millerandage; the Comite Champagne put flowering at the beginning of July in very favourable conditions. Then the summer turned hot and dry, and July and August brought the highest sunshine ever recorded in Champagne. Dom Perignon's Vincent Chaperon said, "We had the driest and warmest summer of the past two decades at that point." Ruinart oenologist Louise Bryden's analysis found summer temperatures on the average, with rainfall and overall seasonal temperatures a little down and annual sunshine hours well up. From 6 September regular rain swelled the berries and stopped in time. Some localized hail in September damaged vines along the Marne, and an east wind kept the fruit healthy through an almost summery harvest. The earliest sectors began picking on 24 September and the latest on 9 October, but most crus started in the first days of October, something not seen for two decades. On 22 July the marketable yield was set at 10,500 kg/ha, including 500 kg/ha released from the reserve, and in October the 10,000 kg/ha available yield was expected to be reached in most crus.

• Vines started about fifteen days behind the ten-year average after a cold, very rainy winter and spring
• July and August had the highest sunshine ever recorded in Champagne
• Picking ran from 24 September in the earliest sectors to 9 October, with most crus starting in early October
• Set yield: 10,500 kg/ha marketable, of which 500 kg/ha came from the reserve

Peter Liem singles out two areas that excelled above all: the southern Cote des Blancs around Le Mesnil and Oger, and the south-facing slope of the Grande Vallee and southern Montagne de Reims from Ay to Bouzy and Ambonnay. The Aube suffered most from rain. It received double its normal rainfall between January and June and another heavy spell in August and September, and mildew damaged much of the crop, though most producers there were pleased with the quality even with exceptionally low quantities. Early-flowering parcels gave lower yields and often more concentrated wines, while late-flowering parcels such as the northern Montagne de Reims gave cooler, quieter wines.

• Southern Cote des Blancs (Le Mesnil, Oger) and Ay to Bouzy and Ambonnay excelled, in Peter Liem's judgment
• The Aube had double its normal January to June rainfall and widespread mildew
• Some areas had to be picked at the onset of botrytis, but most vineyards were free of rot
• A few crus were partly hit by millerandage, hail or botrytis

Veuve Clicquot did not make a vintage brut in 2013 and had not released a Grande Dame 2013 a decade on; Giles Fallowfield reported at the time that then-cellar master Dominique de Marville wanted to wait until the following spring to decide on any vintage wines. Other houses did release 2013s, among them Dom Perignon 2013, Philipponnat's Clos des Goisses 2013, Charles Heidsieck Brut Millesime 2013 and Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill 2013. Louis Roederer's Cristal 2013 was released in 2021.

• Veuve Clicquot: no vintage brut and no Grande Dame from 2013
• Dom Perignon, Clos des Goisses, Charles Heidsieck and Pol Roger's Sir Winston Churchill all released 2013s
• Louis Roederer's Cristal 2013 was released in 2021

At harvest the average potential alcohol was close to 10% vol. and acidity around 8.5 g/l (as sulphuric acid), and the Champenois were beginning to mention 1983, 1988 and 1998, also late harvests. Bryden's figures put sugar levels on the 10-year average and acidity a little higher at 8.4 g/L against an average of 7.6 g/L. Decanter's Tom Hewson calls 2013 initially underrated in the shadow of 2012, and writes that it has 2008's longevity built in without some of the obstinance and dominant acidity; he rated Clos des Goisses, Dom Perignon, Charles Heidsieck and Rare 2013 higher than their 2012s. Peter Liem calls it a retro vintage, elegant, introverted and lithe, with wines of exceptional purity, a backbone of acidity and clear expression of terroir.

• Potential alcohol close to 10% vol., acidity around 8.5 g/l at harvest
• Champenois began to mention the late harvests of 1983, 1988 and 1998