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Champagne: radical new harvest rules
September 4, 2009
By Giles Fallowfield
Champagne's revolutionary new rules to deciding the yield for the 2009 harvest will mean over 40% less Champagne will be produced this year.
This is an attempt to satisfy the demands of the major houses by not adding further excess to already high stocks, and preserving prices.
At the same time it guarantees an acceptable level of income for the growers.
With growers calling for a minimum 10,400 kilos per hectare yield, and the Champagne houses demanding 7,500kg/ha, a compromise has been reached.
The basic yield has been set at 8,000kg/ha (equivalent to around 230m bottles) but the growers will be allowed to pick up to 9,700kg/ha.
The average yield last year was 14,200kg/ha, which produced 405m bottles- meaning this year there will be a drop of 44% in bottles produced.
As part of the deal, Champagne houses will only have to pay for the 8,000kg/ha of grapes in the usual quarterly payments over the 12 months after the harvest.
But they will also pay the growers for the additional 1,700kg/ha in the November of the following year.
The houses are only allowed to bottle the 8,000kg/ha, while the extra 1,700kg/ha remains declassified until the October of the following year.
However, growers, which own over 90% of the vineyards in Champagne, will be allowed to bottle the full yield of 9,700kg/ha immediately after the harvest.
Ghislain de Montgolfier, president of the Union des Maisons de Champagne (UMC), said, 'It is the first time we have separated the quantities the growers and the negociants can pick.'
Patrick Le Brun, president of the Syndicat général des vignerons (SGV), the main growers' union said he considered it a good solution.
'It is the least bad agreement, faced with the demand from some of the houses that the maximum yield should be restricted to just 7,500kg/ha.'
It remains to be seen whether the price paid for grapes will fall from the high level of 2008, when the average across the appellation reached €5.35 per kilo, up from €5.05/kg in 2007.
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So, retail sales prices for the big names will remain high? A situation cava producers will welcome…
Filip Verheyden, Belgium
Concerning the vast oversupply of Champagne in today's market who can really be surprised. My wife and I love sparkling wines, especially French Champagne, but as the years go by compared to many other sparkling wines from around the world, Champagne keeps getting more expensive without the quality improving and now they have just increased the Champagne region greatly. Why don't the French get it. Lower the price, increase the quality and the sales will come back with time. To leave billons of grapes on the vines seems a great waste. As with many French wines there is little attempt to truly market the wines. The attitude that their wines are superior compared to other wines in the world will only hasten their speedy demise. I'll drink Roederer Estate "Mendocino" any day for the price and quality compared to the French stuff.
Gregory Graziano, Graziano Family of Wines
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