In Champagne, the grape harvest began as early as mid-August, unprecedented for some growers, after heat and drought sped up ripening and forced them to change their methods.
In Champagne, the calendar seems to have gone into overdrive. On the hillsides of Hautvillers, grape-pickers are already hard at work even though August is not yet over. This year, the first picking officially started between 12 and 17 August, depending on the area and the grape variety. An exceptionally early start that speaks volumes about how the climate is changing in the region.
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For Alexandre Gobillard, production director at the Gobillard & Fils house, harvesting this early was once unthinkable.
"I've been working on the estate for 30 years, and when I started my father always used to say: 'On 15 August, go on holiday.' Today it's 18 August and we're in the middle of the harvest. We've never seen anything like it." he explains.
The heat has dramatically sped up the ripening of the grapes. After a spell of frost at the end of March (another first), Champagne then endured several heatwaves and severe drought. Temperatures even reached 40°C in June in some parts of the region.
The drought has also increased the concentration of sugars in the grapes. Winegrowers therefore have to monitor ripeness extremely closely to strike the right balance and produce champagne that is sufficiently fresh and delicate.
A little further east, in Tours-sur-Marne, the situation is the same. The owner of these vines, Ophélie Lapie-Lamiable, can only observe that for the past twenty years or so, especially since the 2003 heatwave, the harvest has systematically been brought forward and that people will probably have to get used to it.
"2003 is still remembered as a landmark year. It was the first time we harvested at the end of August in Champagne. Since 2003, we've already harvested at the end of August at least ten times, and so 2026 will probably also go down in history for its frost and its earliness. Perhaps in 20 years' time we'll be saying that in the end, harvesting on 15 August has more or less become normal." says Ophélie Lapie-Lamiable, manager of Champagne Lamiable.
Adapting to global warming at all costs
This shift is already forcing the industry to rethink its practices and to look at grape varieties that can better withstand climate change. It also makes organising the harvest more complicated, as it is traditionally carried out by hand, with thousands of seasonal workers who need to be housed and transported in the height of summer, sometimes in sweltering heat.
Out in the vineyards, the first signs are still encouraging. The question now is what this lightning-quick harvest will produce once the wine is in the bottle.
In the cellars, the grapes are already being pressed. The first bubbles of this very early vintage are therefore beginning to take shape, and it will take a few years to know whether they have also lived up to all their promise and are considered a grand cru.
