According to the region’s newspaper L’Union, and confirmed to db last week by representatives from Champagne Canard-Duchêne and Louis Roederer, picking is scheduled to begin on 15 August, although some warmer sites could begin harvesting five days earlier.
Speaking to db on Friday following 250th anniversary celebrations, Champagne Louis Roederer cellar master Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon said that the official start date is 15 August, but “some places may start a few days before, such as Montgueux, which is an exceptionally sunny site.” Montgueux is a chalk hill located 10km west of Troyes in the Aube department, sometimes called the ‘Montrachet of Champagne’ for its unusually ripe Chardonnay.
Should picking begin on 10 August in Montgueux, that would mark the earliest harvesting on record in Champagne, with Lécaillon noting that some had started bringing in grapes as early as 13 August in 2020, following an extremely hot summer – although the official start date that year was four days later.
2026 set to surpass 2020 record
The earliest official start to harvesting in Champagne on record is 2020, when picking began on 17 August. Next earliest is 2003, on 18 August – itself the first August start since 1822, when picking began on 20 August.
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