Champagne’s maximum permitted vineyard yields have been cut back slightly for the upcoming 2023 harvest after shipments dipped by nearly 5% in the first half of the year.
Winegrowers and houses have set the available commercialisable yield for this year at 11,400kg per hectare (kg/ha), 5% less than in 2022, noting that conditions in the region’s vineyards are promising, with a “fairly calm” growing season and the harvest likely to start in the first 10 days of September.
Champagne had a better than expected year in 2022, when global shipments rose 1.6% to reach 326m bottles, following a 31% surge in 2021 – but many houses were impacted by supply shortages.
Yields last year were set at 12,000kg/ha, the equivalent of about 343m bottles, versus 2023’s figure of 11,400kg/ha, or less than 326m bottles.
The cut in yields has been partly prompted by the news that Champagne shipments in the first half of 2023 declined by 4.7% to 125.8m bottles, with exports (77.7m bottles) down 3.7% and France (48.1m bottles) falling by 6.3%.
Interprofessional body the Comité Champagne now expects shipments for 2023 to reach about 314m bottles, down nearly 4% on last year, pointing out that 2022 was “an extraordinary year” for the region.
“To determine the available yield for the year, winegrowers and houses have agreed on shipping forecasts for the next four years that take into account both our confidence in the appellation and a certain caution with regard to the global economic situation and the effects of inflation,” said David Chatillon, president of the Champagne houses.
The Champagne region has also further tweaked its reserve system, which allows growers to hedge against poor harvests with stocks of wine from previous years. The maximum level of this “personal reserve” has now been increased from 8,000kg/ha to 10,000kg/ha.
Why this year’s harvest is crucial for Champagne – Category Intel
