For Bulletin 2 from the 2013 Champagne Harvest I went down to Oger, a Grand Cru village in la Côte des Blancs, to speak with Elodie Higonet of Champagne Chapuy which Elodie manages with her sister, Aurore.

You can see what Elodie has to say about the prospects for this year’s harvest in the video at the foot of the page and to put things into context a little, below are a few more interesting facts and figures about the harvest.

 Weight of the bunches

Elodie mentions that this year’s bunches are not as heavy as she would like. Typically a good bunch would weigh about 125-130 grams, but so far this year they are still below 120 grams and picking is due to start in most areas within a very few days.

The loss in weight per bunch can be made up simply by picking more bunches but that’s more work for the pickers and potentially more costly for the people who are paying them.

 Ripeness of the grapes

Champagne makers are really looking for enough sugar in the grapes to produce a minimum of 10% potential alcohol before they will start picking. This year it is touch and go whether they will get to 10 or not.

The samples taken at regular intervals in the vineyards in the run-up to the harvest have been showing 9 or barely 10, but these samples often give a higher reading than  you actually get when the grapes are pressed.

In addition there’s quite a wide variation across the region and amongst the different grapes varieties. The uneven ripeness of this year’s harvest could be a real logistical challenge for those organising the picking teams with the very real possibility of more than one pass in certain vineyards: once for the ripe grapes and again a few days later in the hope that the rest of the grapes have ripened by then.

For now the weather is fine - very warm in fact - so a few days’ wait is not too much of a problem, but if rain comes later on, then the grapes won’t get any riper and so there’s no point waiting to pick; the grapes will have to be gathered in as they are.

All will be revealed in the coming days and weeks so do come back soon for more interviews and more insights into the world of champagne.

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Thanks

Jiles (Your Man In Champagne)