2016 Champagne Vintage

The start of 2016 was particularly demanding in the vineyards. At the end of April, frost touched nearly a quarter of the Champagne appellation, and buds were entirely destroyed on 14% of the vineyard. The late frosts hit the Cote des Bar, home to a quarter of Champagne's vineyards, where Jean Pierre Fleury of Champagne Fleury in Courteron said he lost 70% of his potential harvest to frost at bud break. Through the spring, rain, hail showers and storms followed one another, and depending on the sector rainfall reached two to three times the average of the previous 20 years. Flowering finished at the end of June, about ten days late. The Aube was hit by hailstorms again later in the season, and mildew pressure was heavy: the agronomic agency Magister found mildew symptoms in 99% of the vineyards it monitored, with 34% losing more than 10% of their yield and more than half the crop affected in 4%. Grey rot was first seen at the end of July and spread quickly, with 65% of vineyards showing minor outbreaks by 9 August. The season combined record rainfall, a sunshine deficit, spring frosts, hailstorms, strong mildew pressure and episodes of scalding (echaudage), and cut the volume available at harvest by at least 30%. Picking opened on 10 September in the earliest communes and 27 September in the latest, and finished in the first week of October, in almost summery weather broken by a few days of rain that added weight to the bunches. That allowed the forecast average agronomic yield to be revised upward, to a little above 8,000 kg/ha.

• End of April frost touched nearly a quarter of the appellation and entirely destroyed buds on 14% of the vineyard
• Spring rainfall ran two to three times the 20-year average, depending on the sector; flowering finished at the end of June, about ten days late
• Magister found mildew in 99% of the vineyards it monitored, with 34% losing more than 10% of their yield
• Picking ran from 10 September in the earliest communes to the first week of October; the season cut harvest volume by at least 30%

On 20 July 2016 in Epernay, growers and houses meeting within the Comite Champagne set the marketable yield for the 2016 harvest at 10,800 kg/ha: 9,700 kg/ha to be picked, plus 1,100 kg/ha to be released from the Champagne reserve on 1 February 2017. Those whose vines fell short of that figure could make up the gap by releasing their own reserve of wines from earlier harvests. At that point frost and mildew were expected to reduce the volume at harvest, and picking was likely to start around 15 September. In early August, Decanter called 2016 one of the lowest-yielding Champagne seasons since the 1980s. Olivier Horiot, a grower at Les Riceys, estimated that sub-region's yield at around 2,500 to 3,000 kg/ha. Charles Philipponnat of Champagne Philipponnat said growers and houses would have to dig heavily into their reserves, and put his average Marne yield estimate closer to 8,000 to 8,500 kg per hectare, which he called in line with an official estimate of 7,200 kg/ha for the whole region. After the harvest, the reserve allowed growers and houses to top up the crop and renew stocks at the level of a normal year, around 316 million bottles.

• Marketable yield set on 20 July 2016: 10,800 kg/ha, of which 9,700 kg/ha picked and 1,100 kg/ha released from the reserve on 1 February 2017
• Les Riceys: around 2,500 to 3,000 kg/ha, Olivier Horiot's estimate
• Marne: 8,000 to 8,500 kg per hectare, Charles Philipponnat's estimate, against an official 7,200 kg/ha for the whole region
• After the harvest: agronomic yield a little above 8,000 kg/ha, with reserve wines renewing stocks at a normal year's level of around 316 million bottles

Ripeness differed extremely between grape varieties, between sectors and between parcels, which called for careful adjustment of the picking circuit, a real challenge for growers and houses managing the roughly 100,000 seasonal workers that a compulsory hand harvest requires. Thanks to good ripening conditions, the grapes came in with excellent health. Average potential alcohol was expected around 10% vol and total acidity around 8 g H2SO4/L. Caution was urged at that early stage, but many pointed to fine acid and sugar balance and to the aromatic quality of the musts.

• Extreme differences in ripeness between varieties, sectors and parcels shaped the picking circuit
• Roughly 100,000 seasonal workers for a compulsory hand harvest
• Grapes in excellent health after good ripening conditions
• Average potential alcohol around 10% vol and total acidity around 8 g H2SO4/L; many noted fine acid and sugar balance