2019 Champagne Vintage

2019 began on more classic averages after the record heat and drought of 2018. February was extremely mild, with temperatures close to 23 C in several communes late in the month, a record for February, and winter rainfall did not make up the dry autumn. Early April was cool, budbreak came on 12 April, in line with the ten-year average, and growth stayed slow until late May, leaving flowering 3 to 4 days behind. Frost struck on 4 to 5 April, 11 to 15 April and 5 to 7 May, destroying about 1,000 hectares, 3% of the vineyard. May was particularly rainy, and downy mildew pressure stayed high through June, though it was well controlled on the bunches. Summer then turned hot and dry. A first heatwave in late June passed 35 C (36.1 C at Ay), and a second in late July brought 40 C across almost the whole weather network and 42.5 C at Saint-Thierry and Vert-Toulon. There was almost no rain from 20 June to 20 July over much of the appellation, and rain in late July and early August helped the vines through. Scalding losses from the heat reached 11% of the crop. During ripening the weather stayed warm and very dry, but unlike 2018 the nights were very cool.

• Budbreak on 12 April, flowering still 3 to 4 days behind the average
• Frost on 4 to 5 April, 11 to 15 April and 5 to 7 May, destroying about 1,000 hectares
• Heatwaves in late June and late July, with 42.5 C at Saint-Thierry and Vert-Toulon; scalding cost 11% of the crop
• Almost no rain from 20 June to 20 July, then very cool nights during a warm, dry ripening period

After two early harvests, picking was expected around 10 September. Heat and a light crop in some plots sped up ripening, and the harvest, fairly early, started earlier than first forecast. On 26 August, sampled plots averaged 7.9% potential alcohol with total acidity of 13.7 g/L (as H2SO4), and the harvest-date committee meeting was brought forward to 31 August. Malic acid fell from 17 g/L on 18 August to 7.3 g/L on 2 September, and end-of-ripening acid levels were satisfactory and in total contrast with 2018. Picking began in the week of 10 September.

• Harvest expected around 10 September; it started earlier than first forecast
• 7.9% average potential alcohol and 13.7 g/L total acidity (as H2SO4) on 26 August
• Malic acid down from 17 g/L on 18 August to 7.3 g/L on 2 September
• Powdery mildew made a few plots unpickable; the UMC considers 2019 a rather healthy vintage

The marketable yield was set on 24 July at a meeting of the Comite Champagne in Epernay at 10,200 kg/ha, down from 10,800 kg/ha in 2018. Comite co-president Jean-Marie Barillere told France Bleu the cut reflected an economic context that was "difficile, incertain" (translated: difficult, uncertain). Producers who could not reach the yield could make up the difference by releasing reserve wines. The UMC expected 2019 to rank among average years for yield, with bunches averaging 124 g against a ten-year average of 138 g.

• Set yield: 10,200 kg/ha, down from 10,800 kg/ha in 2018
• August forecast: 17% below 2018 and 5% below the five-year average
• Average bunch weight 124 g against a ten-year average of 138 g

Decanter's early reports pointed to good ripeness in fruit that survived the season. Antoine Malassagne, co-owner of Champagne AR Lenoble, told Decanter that "2019 has been a very challenging year between April frosts, two record-breaking heatwaves during the summer months of June and July, and drought throughout most of the year," and highlighted a serious powdery mildew attack on Lenoble's Chardonnay in Chouilly. Louis Roederer's Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon reported good freshness and ripeness in the first Chardonnay picked on 10 September in Vertus in the Cote des Blancs, and Champagne Barnaut in Bouzy, in the Montagne de Reims, reported very good ripeness, good acidity levels and excellent aromatic potential. The UMC judged that 2019 had all the ingredients for a quality vintage, at least on paper (translated).

• AR Lenoble: serious powdery mildew attack on Chardonnay in Chouilly
• Louis Roederer: good freshness and ripeness in the first Chardonnay picked in Vertus on 10 September
• Champagne Barnaut, Bouzy: very good ripeness, good acidity levels and excellent aromatic potential