Speaking at tasting on Monday this week of Louis Roederer’s flagship cuvée Cristal – which has just unveiled its 2016 expression – the maison’s chef de cave Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon spoke of his delight at the current conditions in Champagne.
“We have difficult and easy vintages in Champagne, and this is an easy one,” he began, when db asked Lécaillon for his views on the 2025 harvest.
On the other hand, last year, he added, “Was probably the most difficult we have seen for a long time in Champagne,” before noting that 2021 was also an extremely challenging harvest.
Indeed, while last year’s vintage in Champagne was hit by springtime frost and then beset by widespread mildew following an unusually wet summer, reducing yields – if not damaging the quality of the grapes – this year has been free from such climatic hazards.
Lécaillon recorded, “This year has been easy, with no frost, a classic bud break, then a dry April, May and June, so there has been no mildew.”
Unlike last year, 2025’s conditions have ensured that practising organic farming – which sees growers eschew systemic fungicides – has not put producers at a disadvantage, something that Lécaillon also commented on due to the fact that Louis Roederer owns “the largest organically-certified vineyard in Champagne,” he said.
Click HERE to read the full article.