Was your year, a vintage year? Champagne Vintage Reports from 1945 to present

Posted by Nick Gaskin on July 10, 2015

Vintage Champagnes make up just 10% of total Champagne production. The Champagne houses only declare the very best years ‘Vintage years’ and as part of our Fine Wine and Champagne Concierge service we regularly source Champagne and fine wine from various vintage years dating all the way back to the 1940's and 1950's.

While there is variation amongst the various Champagne regions, sub regions, villages as well as individual maisons, we have compiled a very simple guide to give you an idea if your year, is a vintage year.

If you need a rare Champagne or fine wine sourced, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us at [email protected]

2015 — Too early to tell

2014 -Too early to tell

2013 — Pales in comparison to 2012

2012 — An exceptional vintage with low yields due to early season frost

2011 — An erratic year with problematic harvest

2010 -This will be a variable year depending on the producer, not many vintages declared but those that took care in the vineyard have produced excellent fruit driven Champagne

2009 — A pretty high quality year with some good prestige cuvees to come in the future

2008 — Some good wines produced, keep an eye out for some classically styled, acidic wines

2007 — A fairly good year with some excellent Chardonnay based Champagne

2006 — Supple and expressive wines, keep an eye out for this year for immediate drinking

2005 — Acidity on the low end of the spectrum means not many great vintages were produced, perhaps 2005 Cristal is one of the better examples

2004 — Structured and well balanced wines, 2004 Dom is an excellent reflection of the year

2003 — Very high heat across Europe produced wines with excellent fruit, good for immediate drinking without much potential for cellaring beyond the short term

2002 — Generally a warm vintage with some good wines produced

2001 — Quite literally the worst vintage in living memory.

2000 — Good quality for blending but not many vintages produced, if you do your research you can find some good ones

1999 — Many high quality wines were produced with the vintage compared with 1970 & 1983

1998 — Selected, brilliant wines for some growers in 98

1997 — Some excellent wines were produced in ’97 but it was always going to be a let down after 1996!

1996 — The best vintage of the last 50 years. Its strength is that the grapes were harvested at optimum ripeness with unusually high sugar levels but also with a high level of acidity to balance (a combination rarely seen) These are terrific, outstanding wines that are worthy of laying down in the cellar. This is the vintage to stock up on –grab whatever is available. I would also recommend that you consume the 99’s before the 98’s and then move onto the 1996’s.

1995 — After 2 tragic years, this vintage brought a smile to many growers’ faces with some very good vintage wines produced

1994 — Almost identical to ‘93

1993 — There were high hopes for this vintage until rain set in during picking with poor, diluted wines the result

1992 — This should have been a large harvest of healthy grapes, but it was also a turning point year. Due to the semi-collapse of the market, new restrictions on yield and press fractions had come into force. This resulted in fruit being left on the vine or discarded on the ground. There were some vintage wines made but it was not generally declared.

1991 — There were a few vintages released, however the fruit was mostly used for blending

1990 — The third and best of 3 of the best years ever in Champagne, exceptional immediate drinking and even better for ageing

1989 — The second of 3 of the best years ever in Champagne (until ‘96)

1988 — The first of 3 of the best years ever in Champagne (until ‘96)

1987 — One of those years that produced fruit that was barely suitable for blending

1986 — Rot was an issue in certain areas, however select areas produced exceptional wines

1985 — A severe winter which destroyed nearly 10% of vineyards, however for those that survived the weather improved and turned out to be a very good, low yield vintage

1984 — A miserable vintage. Sidenote: this is my birth year so I guess this explains why I am generally a miserable git!

1983 — A second consecutive bumper crop that produced near perfect grapes

1982 — A bumper crop of classic, long lived wines

1981 — Widespread frost and hail damage, however those with crops that survived produced small quantities of excellent wine

1980 — A cool growing season left most harvest to blending

1979 — Warm growing season led to well balanced fruit and acid with wines ageing very well to this day

1978 — Very few vintage wines released, and those that were are generally poor

1977 — A poor year

1976 — A drought year with record heat levels across Europe, which led to a very early harvest starting on September 1. It was to be a very large vintage of super ripe fruit, rich, powerful wines but relatively low in acidity. They have held up remarkably well in spite of their acid levels through sheer concentration

1975 — Ripe and healthy grapes from late budding and a hot summer meant a brilliant vintage for many growers

1974 — A variable year with the growers who elected to pick early doing well

1973 — Serious rot outbreaks in many areas, yet those unaffected by rot produced some excellent wine

1972 — One of the worst years recorded for many maisons

1971 — Violent storms followed by a hot late season meant small production of stylish, elegant wine

1970 — One of the largest ever harvests with many houses declaring a vintage

1969 — Some good vintage wines came from this year despite variable temperatures

1968 — Dreadful, most crops were destroyed as they were mostly unsuitable even for blending

1967 — Damaging frosts decimated crops with wide spread outbreak of grey rot

1966 — Began much the same as 1965, but the year was saved by excellent picking conditions

1965 — Dreadful year with serious outbreaks of root rot

1964 — An excellent year producing ripe full-bodied wines that still age well to this day

1963 — Poor, most crops blended in to non vintage cuvees

1962 — Another low yield but generally high quality vintage

1961 — A difficult beginning to the season meant small crops, which actually ended up being excellent in quality

1960 — Poor

1959 — After a string of poor vintages, this was one of the best post-war era vintages

1958 — Another ordinary vintage

1957 — Savage frosts destroyed most crops with those that survived being poor quality

1956 — Average, no vintage declared

1955 — A large harvest that surprised with it’s longevity

1954 — Good year with large yield mostly used for non vintage blends

1953 — Another excellent year with ripe fruit and great cellar potential

1952 — Excellent year with well cellared examples still delighting to this day

1951 — Below average year producing thin wines with very high acid

1950 — An average year with most houses using their crop for non vintage blends

1949 — High quality vintage with excellent concentration and high acid with huge age potential

1948 — High yield harvest which was excellent for non vintage Champagne stock, but poor for vintage

1947 — An excellent year producing Champagne that aged well with excellent fruit characteristics

1946 — Poor

1945 — A very small yield, but an excellent year that aged well

If you need a rare Champagne or fine wine sourced, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us at [email protected]