Champagne | 2010 vintage
The year seemed to get off to a good start with exceptional weather conditions from the very start of the growth cycle. However, Champagne really bore the brunt as things took a distinct turn for the worse during the ripening phases and most of the harvest was affected, with heavy losses during flowering, severe mildew stress in July and rain and storms in August! There was a relatively low yield and this phenomenon was exacerbated by the selection required after a rather tricky harvest. Even in domaines which are very vigilant in the vineyards and cellars, vintage blends were scarce.
Champagne is lucky because the majority of blends are made from an assemblage of grapes from different years and the ordinariness of 2010 had a limited impact due to the use of reserve wines from 2009 and 2008, both very fine vintages.
