2017 Champagne Vintage

Olivier Horiot, a winemaker in Les Riceys, said mild weather in March had pushed the vines to develop earlier than in the past, and the frost arrived after bud-break. Frost damage seemed omnipresent across Champagne, with the Cote des Bar in the Aube probably worst hit, and temperatures again dipped below freezing on Thursday night (20 April). The spring frost cost 23 percent of buds across the whole appellation. From mid-May to the end of July the region then enjoyed an exceptional hot, sunny spell, with heat records broken in many sectors, and the vineyard was in remarkable health despite a water deficit. On 21 July the available yield was set at 10,800 kg/ha, including 500 kg/ha released from the reserve, against agronomic prospects of 10,000 to 11,000 kg/ha, with the growing cycle about ten days ahead of the ten-year average. The weather turned at the start of August, bringing numerous thunderstorms, several locally with hail. The earliest sectors picked their first bunches from 26 August, making 2017 one of the earliest years since 1950 after 2003, 2007 and 2011, and most sectors began on 4 September. Frequent stormy rain from the start of picking, with the grapes ripe, set off botrytis and forced rigorous sorting. On 15 September, because of frost, then hail, and the selection made at harvest, the authorised yield for the year (10,300 kg/ha) was not expected to be reached in every sector, with the interprofessional reserve available to let growers and houses complete their supply.

Early estimates from around the region put losses at more than 20 percent in some areas and 50 percent in others. It was the second year in a row of late-April frost, after the severe frosts of 27 April 2016, at a time when regional reserves were at an all-time low. Olivier Horiot estimated that 40 to 50 percent of the potential 2017 harvest in the region had been wiped out, saying, "Last night, temperatures dropped to -6 degrees celsius in some places, and they remained this low for most of the night." Johann Merle, vineyard director at Champagne Roederer, estimated the house lost 23% in the Cote des Blancs, 35-40% in the Montagne de Reims and 15 to 20% in the Vallee de la Marne, and judged the frosts less severe than those of 2003. Benoit Tarlant of Champagne Tarlant in Oeuilly disagreed, putting his potential loss at 70%, more than in 2003, and Frederic Miniere in Hermonville reported losses of up to 80% in his Chardonnay vineyards.

Meeting on 5 July, the Comite Champagne technical commission estimated the start of picking at 30 August for Chardonnay, 2 September for Pinot Noir and 4 September for Meunier. Maxime Toubart called the 21 July yield decision a compromise between optimism and prudence (translated). The Champagne harvest was expected to rise 8 percent in 2017 but still sit 9 percent below the 2012-2016 average. In its first harvest report on 15 September, the Comite said the average degree often exceeded 10% vol, total acidity was satisfactory and the balance of the musts very promising, while cautioning that the quality of the vintage could only be judged after the first vins clairs tastings.