Champagne 2013: 10 years on

‘You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone,’ sang Joni Mitchell in the 1970 song Big Yellow Taxi. Ten years on from Champagne’s initially underrated 2013 vintage, as releases of prestige cuvées and special editions slowly drip through, Champagne lovers are starting to feel the same way. How many vintages like 2013 will we see again?

Julian Gout, cellar master of Ayala in Aÿ, has fond memories of a year that finished almost a month and a half later than many other vintages (such as 2011). It was so late in fact that he was able to squeeze in another harvest beforehand: ‘I harvested two times: once in Tuscany in August, and then in October in Champagne!’

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 13 top Champagnes from the 2013 vintage

A swansong for old-school Champagne?

Late harvests are written into Champagne’s memory as difficult harvests; why leave the grapes so long unless they were struggling to ripen? There have been some notable successful late harvests, such as in 1979 (which trickled on until almost the end of October), but also some nightmarish battles against rot and cold autumns in the pre-climate change era, such as 1972, 1984, 1991 and 2001.

Yes, 2013 was late. But as Vincent Chaperon, cellar master of Dom Pérignon, points out, it was not simply a cool year. ‘We were in the new climate era,’ he said at the launch of Dom Pérignon 2013, refuting the sometimes-voiced opinion that 2013 is some kind of flashback to a mid-20th century vintage. ‘We had the driest and warmest summer of the past two decades at that point. It’s about the combination of late harvest and concentration from that summer,’ he said.

Champagne 2013 climate conditions

The vines ripened late because of the cool spring, which pushed development back by two weeks. Even after the summer played catch-up, the autumn was cool and wet, slowing things down once again. Gout points out that the wind saved the day during the cool and wet September, which was ‘essential for [preventing] disease in the vineyard.’ There have been a handful of less-than-pristine or overly lean wines released, but they have been the exception to the rule; evidence, too, that late harvests do not necessarily mean unripe ones.

Ruinart oenologist Louise Bryden’s analysis of the year backs up the notion that 2013 was not all about lateness and coolness. Sugar levels at harvest were actually spot on the 10-year average in Champagne, and acidities were a little higher at 8.4g/L sulphuric rather than the average of 7.6g/L. Summer temperatures were spot on the average as well, rainfall and overall seasonal temperatures a little down, but annual sunshine hours quite significantly up. ‘What a year!’ she says.

Perhaps it’s understandable that 2013 was greeted with some circumspection, after 2012’s miraculous escape from the jaws of defeat – a year where ‘if it could go wrong, it did go wrong,’ according to Laurent-Perrier’s cellar master Maximillian Bernadeau.

Champagne writer Giles Fallowfield reported at the time that Veuve Clicquot’s then-cellar master, Dominique de Marville, felt he needed to wait for the following spring to decide whether to make any vintage wines; it wasn’t clear at harvest whether or not the quality was there. Veuve Clicquot did not make a vintage brut in 2013, and have not released a Grande Dame 2013 either. The same appears true for Piper-Heidsieck, Bollinger’s Grande Année and a small-but-significant band of others who erred on the side of caution due to the year’s relatively high acidity and terse character.

Still fair value?

Prices for vintage Champagne and prestige cuvées rocketed in 2022, although the last six months to mid-2023 have seen them come back down again. Are 2013s now looking like good value?

The vintage ought to prove highly desirable, especially given that most vintages since 2013 have been hotter, poorer quality or not as universally ageworthy. Wine market analyst Sara Danese says it is 2014 and 2015 that seem to have caught the price rises, though. ‘In most cases, 2013 appears to be very fairly priced,’ she says. Currently, the prices of Dom Perignon 2012 and 2013 trade at a very similar level (£1,740 and £1,720 per 12-75cl bottle case in bond, respectively). Clos des Goisses 2013 is being sold at £2,366 and 2012 at £2,400 (per 12-75cl bottle case in bond).

Louis Roederer’s Cristal, though, does exhibit the sort of price rises seen in the last two years: ‘the 2013 vintage was released in 2021 at £1,490, while the [more modestly rated] 2015 vintage was released a few months ago at £2,729. That’s an 83% increase in the price released by Roederer, far beyond any reasonable justification for inflationary forces,’ says Danese.

The view from the tasting room

There’s no hiding the fact that 2013s are not easy-going crowd-pleasers. There’s an argument, though, that the best wines outshine some 2008s and 2012s.

The 2013 vintage has 2008’s longevity built in, but without some of the obstinance and dominant acidity. The 2012 vintage on the other hand is hugely exciting, with plenty of maturity coupled with acidity, although tuned less towards classic, long-lived refinement and more towards a bustling, intense sort of ripeness.

Vincent Chaperon calls it ‘integration’ in 2013: the sense that the wines will stay together beautifully over time. Of the wines featured here, I have rated the Clos des Goisses, Dom Pérignon, Charles Heidsieck, and Rare higher than the 2012s, even if the 2012s are widely a little more fun to drink at this stage.

The message is clear: although many have sold through, the time is ripe for adding 2013 to your cellar, if you can find them.

The Champagne region is probably hoping these cool, restrained and taut wines won’t mark the end of an era, and that the future may hold more vintages with such a classic character. Even for the optimists, though, it’s worth taking Joni’s advice: don’t wait until it’s all gone.

Prices taken from Liv-Ex in August 2023, correct at time of publishing.

Champagne 2013: The top 13

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