The harvest started early this year in Champagne, as early as 19 August, due to a maturation that turned out to be “extremely rapid,” reported Matot-Braine.
“The grapes are in excellent health, acidity levels are satisfactory, and aromatic maturity is developing harmoniously,” the Comité Champagne, the trade association for Champagne producers and merchants, said on Wednesday, 20 August.
The potential of the harvest is “enormous,” according to the Committee, “with a raw material and high-level weather conditions.”
Normally, the Champagne harvest begins in mid-September, sometimes stretching into early October, depending on weather and grape ripeness.
The Comité Champagne noted that the Champagne appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC), located in northeastern France, covers some 34,300 hectares and 319 villages, or crus.
The AOC system, created in 1935, protects products like Champagne by setting strict rules on where and how they can be made. Originally for wine and spirits, it later expanded to other foods. In 1992, the appellation d’origine protégée (AOP) was introduced at the EU level, extending the same protections across Europe.
Champagne has long fought to defend its name against imitators.
In 2021, producers won a 20-year legal battle to stop the Swiss village of Champagne from selling wine under the label “vin du commune de Champagne.”
