Champagne Vintage Chart & Ratings
By Andrew Jefford
Last updated: April 17, 2024
The vintage charts and harvest reports provided by the Wine Scholar Guild give you the ranking for every French wine region and vintage from 2000 to today. Andrew Jefford, award-winning wine journalist for Decanter Magazine and author of twelve books on wine including The New France has compiled information and written the vintage charts starting with the 2013 vintage. He is also updating information for the vintages prior to 2013.
Champagne
| Vintage | Quality | Drink | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 |  | Drink/Cellar | After the historically low yields of 2021, growers in Champagne were hoping for better things in 2022. The vintage exceeded their hopes – spectacularly. As elsewhere in France, January was dry and cool and February was dry and warm. March began cool but finished very warmly, waking the Chardonnay buds. Early April frosts then destroyed 3,000 ha of Chardonnay in the most precocious sites and slowed budburst elsewhere. The warmth returned from mid-April onwards and, despite early April rain, spring remained dry – the fourth dryest ever recorded in Champagne (after 1976, 2012 and 2014). Flowering began around June 3rd, around 12 days ahead of long-term averages. June also, happily, broke the drought, with around 100 mm falling over the month as a whole; without this rain, the 2022 story would have been a much less happy one, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Summer then turned warm, dry and very sunny, and remained so – it was the 3rd warmest summer ever recorded in Champagne (after 2003 and 2018) and the sunniest summer ever recorded, its 915 hours of sunshine being around 200 hours more than the long-term average. The harvest began on August 18th in the Aube, and was largely concluded within a month, though overshadowed by the death of four harvesters (one accidentally, but three of heart attacks related to the heat in the vineyards during picking: a new issue for a region with obligatory hand-harvesting to face). The yield quota was fixed at 12,000 kg/ha – the highest yield since 2007. And quality is exceptional, with the grapes in beautiful health: “It was easy to see it would be a great year for Champagne and Chardonnay specifically,” according to Clément Vergnon in Le Mesnil. Acidities are a little lower than long-term averages, but not worryingly so. It was, in sum, the vintage everyone in Champagne had hoped for. |
| 2021 |  | Drink/Cellar | After a wet and largely cold winter, February was warm and dry. March was, in the main, cold -- but turned almost summery, as elsewhere in France, at the end of the month. Buds burst; then five nights of frost followed in early April (5-9); there was further frost in Champagne between May 3rd and 7th, with the Champagne houses’ organisation estimating that 30% of the harvest was lost due to frost (though losses were higher in the Côte des Bars and the Massif de St Thierry). Summer was then cold, wet and stormy, with episodes of hail; only the two first weeks of June (during which flowering took place) were sunny and warm. Further losses due to mildew and associated problems gave many growers only a half-crop. The warmth finally returned in mid-August but the quality of the harvest was rain-, disease- and pest-affected by then; harvest was underway by mid-September. Overall, yields were the lowest for 35 years. Quality can be excellent, with vivacious and classical base wines being made from the very best and most carefully manicured sites (especially in the Côte des Blancs), but the overall quality picture is mixed. |
| 2020 |  | Drink/Cellar | Winter in Champagne was generally mild and wet, with February 2020 being the wettest month ever recorded in the region. The spring was then very warm, with budburst being 16 days ahead of the long-term average and this advance continuing until harvest (in August). Summer was hot and dry, with July also a record-breaker, this time for the hottest month ever recorded in the region. The heat and consequent drought reduced the size of the potential crop and led to uneven ripening in some areas; yields in any case had been reduced to 8,000 kg/ha due to the drop in demand for Champagne associated with the COVID pandemic. Growers are very enthusiastic about the quality of the best base wines, though, with Pinot Noir (as in Alsace) looking exceptionally promising this year. |
| 2019 | | Drink/Cellar | Each new year seems to bring novel weather challenges to Champagne, and 2019 was no exception. February temperatures as warm as 20°C were disquieting in this northerly region, and set in train powdery mildew challenges for the season. April frosts (down to -7°C in places) affected 5,000 ha (15 per cent of the growing area); May was then very rainy, which meant that downy mildew was also a big threat by early June. During June, though, the first of two heatwaves hit Champagne. This one was helpful, clearing the mildew; the second (at the end of July) was more damaging, with temperatures as high as 43°C causing sunburn and raisining; this meant that the crop required careful sorting. August and September weather conditions were less challenging, though, and most growers were happy or very happy with the final quality of the (sorted) crop, reporting satisfactory levels of both sugar and acidity, and a general sense of freshness and brightness to the fruit. Harvest quantities were around 17 per cent down on the general 2018 harvest, and around five per cent below the five-year average. |
| 2018 | | Drink/Cellar | After the traumas of 2017, 2018 brought smiles back to Champagne, though the season was nonetheless a complicated one. After a wet winter and early spring, April turned very warm and budburst was early. Hail in May and early June followed by mildew was responsible for a minority of growers losing up to 40 per cent of their crop, but in general flowering passed off well, and summer was then the second warmest ever recorded (after 2003), setting up both an early and a generous harvest, one well able to replenish the shortfalls of 2017. Sugar levels were unusually high. The region as a whole recorded an average natural alcohol of over 10%, though some houses asked growers to pick at no more than 9.5%. Anxiety about correspondingly low acidity levels (7-7.5 g/l expressed as tartaric) dissipated when it emerged that it was chiefly malic acid, not tartaric acid, that was lower this year, leaving total acidities unaffected for those houses putting their base wines through malo. The crop has been acclaimed ‘vintage of the century’ (though less than a fifth of the century has elapsed) -- but even cautious insiders found it hard to contain their optimism about a vintage which (for example) suggested to Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon of Louis Roederer a theoretical combination of 1959 and 1947. |
| 2017 |  | Drink/Cellar | Champagne’s 2017 season was a chaotic series of extreme events: the perfect illustration of climate scientists’ global warming predictions. A cold winter was followed by a very warm early spring, leading to dangerously early budburst. Severe frosts in the third week of April then eliminated between 20% and 70% of the potential crop, depending on sub-region (the Côte des Bars was worst affected). After that, the weather was exceptionally hot and sunny up to the end of July, breaking many of the region’s heat records. Storms and hail then caused further losses at the beginning of August, and harvest eventually got underway in late August, though the official date was September 4th (which many, with hindsight, considered too late). It was interrupted by heavy rain, and botrytis outbreaks meant that the grapes had to be carefully sorted. The quality of some Chardonnays was fair to good, but 2017 produced poor quality Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, and the paucity of grapes means that Champagne houses risk running down their reserves at a time of record sales. |
| 2016 |  | Drink/Cellar | A difficult year for Champagne got underway with a mild winter followed by a cool early spring. Snow, then frost struck the region on April 27th-28th, followed by two very wet months which caused unprecendented mildew-related losses. Late July and August, by contrast, were hot enough to cause some problems of sun-burn, with very uneven Chardonnay results in particular. Overall quantities are down by around 33 per cent, and quality is variable, too, with some softness evident in the balance of Chardonnay-dominated wines. |
| 2015 | | Drink/Cellar | After a cold, wet winter and very mixed weather in April, it became sunny, warm and dry in May and stayed that way through a largely hot July and mid-August. The end of August was cooler and wetter, but skies cleared in September and most of the harvest was picked in perfect conditions in the first part of the month. A little rain fell during the picking of the last parcels. Despite relatively low acid levels (2015 is the lowest acid year since 2003), most felt that the wines of this preponderantly warm, dry year were finely balanced, structured, fresh, concentrated and meant for long ageing. However the 2015 vintage wines are ageing more variably than expected. |
| 2014 |  | Drink | Spring was mild and warm, leading to a generous fruit set (after two short vintages in 2012 and 2013). July, by contrast, was cool and wet and this indifferent weather lingered into August finally clearing by the end of the month for a fine, harvest-saving September. There was an ample crop of irregular wines with very good results for Chardonnay and Montagne de Reims Pinot, but sometimes dilute results in the Marne Valley (which had twice its normal growing-season rainfall). |
| 2013 |  | Drink | A long winter and cool spring meant that the Chardonnay didn’t flower until mid-June and the two Pinots in mid-July: a very late date, and potentially disastrous. There was hail damage in the Marne at the end of July. Overall, though, July and August were record-breakingly hot and sunny, saving the vintage and meaning that the early September rain was welcome. Good conditions then resumed for an October harvest of tense and acidic but good quality fruit, ideal for ageing. A vintage year for most. |
| 2012 | | Drink | Widespread frosts in April touched 131 villages (of 319). Very cold, sunless weather for flowering. Long rainless period from mid-July to September. Total yield: 9,208 kg/ha, lowest volume since 2003, ~40% below 10-year average. Highest average sugars across all varieties. Overall maturity equals 2009. A vintage year is anticipated. |
| 2011 |  | Drink/Past Peak | Hot, dry spring. Exceptionally large harvest, 13,261 kg/ha. Average sugar ripeness & acidities. |
| 2010 | | Drink | Rains mid-August provoked widespread rot reducing crop substantially. High sugars for Chardonnay/Pinot Noir, highest acidities for Pinots in decade of 2000s. Limited vintage declarations. |
| 2009 | | Drink | Warmest conditions since 2003, optimal maturity, healthy fruit. Balanced wines with average sugars, lower acidities. High overall maturity. Vintage year for some, principally récoltants-manipulants (individual growers). In ’09, new EU rules reduced dosage for Brut to 12 g/l. |
| 2008 | | Drink/Cellar | Difficult, damp, mildew-affected season was saved by a dry August and a fine, dry, sunny but cool September. The harvest was large, but its classical balance meant an outstanding range of vintage wines. |
| 2007 | | Drink/Past peak | Chardonnay performed best. Summer hail. Lowest fruit maturity of the 2000s. Non-vintage year for many négociants-manipulants (houses), typically declared by récoltants-manipulants (individual growers). |
| 2006 | | Drink/Past peak | Cold winter, hot & dry summer. Abundant year, heterogeneous ripening. Above average pH & sugars, average acidity. High overall maturity, in line with ’09 & ’12. Numerous vintage declarations by many producers. |
| 2005 | | Drink | More difficult season than many French regions in ’05. Successful Chardonnay, weak Pinot Meunier. Good sugar levels, below average acidities. Vintage declaration by many négociants-manipulants (houses) & récoltants-manipulants (growers). |
| 2004 | | Drink | Harvest delivered record volume & sound quality. Chardonnay, Meunier were best. Balanced, well-structured Champagnes some compare to ’98. |
| 2003 | | Drink/Past peak | Atypically hot summer. Earliest harvest since 1822, abnormally low yields of 8,254 kg/ha. Richness & elevated alcohol levels. Numerous vintage declarations. Some examples are missing sufficient backbone. |
| 2002 | | Drink | Both Chardonnay & Pinot Noir ripened well. Balanced Champagnes, a declared vintage by producers of all types. Superb prestige Champagnes, many will benefit from further cellaring. |
| 2001 |  | Past peak | Cold, wet September. Lacked maturity: low sugars & elevated acidity. Not a vintage year except for some récoltants-manipulants (individual growers). |
| 2000 | | Drink/Past peak | Difficult summer marked by rain, widespread hail. Favorable September weather for harvest. Widely declared “millennium” vintage… some fine examples, 0thers are soft, lack intensity & should be drunk (now). |
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These vintage notes have been prepared by Andrew Jefford, Academic Advisor to the Wine Scholar Guild. New vintage information, and any revisions of previous vintage drinking suggestions, are made each autumn. Use the charts as a guide only; in every vintage there will be outperforming and underperforming wines.