2022 Champagne Vintage

2022 was a quick and easy winegrowing season. The summer was dry, but despite the drought some well-timed rain ultimately produced the best conditions for ripening. In July the vineyards were in 'an excellent sanitary state', with picking expected to start in the last 10 days of August. It began on 20 August for the earliest-ripening crus. By 15 September the harvest was finished in almost every sector, with the last cuts at Mailly Champagne in the Montagne de Reims, and by 21 September it was complete. The grapes came in perfectly healthy. Quantity varied from sector to sector but was sufficient everywhere to meet the 12,000 kg/ha set for the year.

• A summer drought, eased by well-timed rain that ultimately gave the best conditions for ripening
• Vineyards in 'an excellent sanitary state' ahead of harvest
• Picking began on 20 August for the earliest-ripening crus and was finished in almost every sector by 15 September
• Yield set at 12,000 kg/ha; quantity varied by sector but met it everywhere

The 12,000 kg/ha yield was the highest set since the 2008 vintage, against 8,000 kg/ha set for 2020. The CIVC fixed the figure in July, aiming for 325 million bottles shipped by the end of 2022. A second aim was to rebuild growers' individual reserves after a very complicated 2021, when many could not reach the set yield. Winegrowers' president Maxime Toubart said that 'thanks to a bountiful, high-quality harvest and with the exceptional permission of the INAO (governing body for protected designations of origin), winegrowers have been able to rebuild reserves that were substantially depleted by the 2021 winegrowing year.'

• Set yields: 2020 at 8,000 kg/ha, 2021 at 10,000 kg/ha, 2022 at 12,000 kg/ha
• Shipments were up 13.8% in the first half of 2022 against the same period of 2021
• Champagne Houses president David Chatillon put market demand up 9% at the end of August on the previous year

David Chatillon, president of the Union des maisons de Champagne and co-president of the CIVC, told France Bleu: 'It is a magnificent harvest, very consistent across the regions, we are really very happy' (translated). Asked whether 2022 would be a vintage year, he said it was a little too early to say, borrowing a line from the president of the Federation des cooperatives: 'I vintage wines, not grapes' (translated). At the Mailly Grand Cru cooperative, president Xavier Muller told France Bleu: 'Everything is ripe, everything is healthy, there is no rot' (translated). Musts showed potential alcohol averaging better than 10% by volume and well-balanced acidity, and the Comite's release quoted Chatillon: 'The fine grapes harvested this year are set to make great wines that will surely satisfy the expectations of consumers.'

• The last crates of Pinot Noir came in at Mailly Champagne on 15 September
• Chatillon said the vintage question had to wait for the first fermentations