The 2014 harvest

2014 felt completely upside down climate wise, much like the last couple of years. However when 2013 could be summarized as a rainy winter and spring followed by two beautiful months of summer, 2014 is precisely the reverse. The winter was particularly mild, to the point where many in Champagne thought it never actually happened. The temperatures remained above average until the end of April and there were no incidents due to hail or frost: this lead to an early and perfect flowering with great fruit potential. Every factor pointed to an early and bountiful harvest. However the rain and relatively cold weather of July and August signalled a regression to the mean in terms of precocity, while increasing the pressure of botrytis. Thankfully September was sunny and dry, helping us to keep the threat of rot at bay while trying to reach the perfect ripeness level.

The harvest started gradually between the 12th and 17th of September and was relatively short. The aromatic profile of the grapes evolved rapidly, reaching our desired stage of ripeness and intensity in only ten days. The acidities were high and will help retain balance and freshness. The berries grew rapidly both in size and weight, increasing their fragility and making them more susceptible to rot. The vintage was also marked by the presence of acidic rot, not only in our region but in the whole of Europe. Thankfully the harvest is still performed manually in Champagne, and our experienced teams of pickers were in a position to sort the grapes very carefully in the vineyard. We also operated a strict geographical selection: most of the chardonnays were beautiful; some sectors of pinot noir (mostly around Ay) were hit very hard by rot, while others (Verzenay) matured extremely early (actually the earliest I’ve ever seen) and produced grapes of very high quality.

The 2014 harvest had a great potential which was balanced by relatively high yields and the presence of rot. Our access to a wide range of terroirs in Champagne meant we had the luxury of being extremely selective. Sound viticultural practices and uncompromising sorting of the grapes in the vineyard allow us to be particularly hopeful. As usual the final decision whether to declare this vintage will only be reached after we prepare the final assemblage…

Richard Geoffroy, Dom Pérignon’s Chef de Cave