Napoleon Bonaparte said, ” Champagne! In victory one deserves it, in defeat one needs it.” This year the winemakers in the Champagne region of France will definitely need it. The 2016 vintage was full of bad news for the region. Bad weather, frost, rot and mildew in Champagne has produced lowest yielding Champagne harvests since the 1980s.
The bad news started back in the Spring during bud break when frost came and destroyed a substantial percentage of the crop. Mildew and rot began in July adding to the challenges. All of this will lead to a substantial shortage of vintage Champagne but will probably not affect the Non Vintage market due to wine reserves kept by the individual Champagne houses.
