The hot, dry summer, especially in July and August – which saw the most sunshine ever recorded in Champagne – worked wonders for the quality of the grapes.
Starting on 6 September, regular rainfall helped the grapes to grow, fortunately stopping in time for them to complete their maturation. The weather was exceptional for such a late harvest, almost summery, with high temperatures, sunshine and a westerly wind to keep the grapes healthy.
Due to the wide diversity between different parts of the wine area, the earliest vineyards began harvesting on 24 September and the latest on 9 October, but most started in the first days of October, which has not been seen in Champagne for two decades.
At Maison Lombard, we took in the equivalent of 110 hectares of grapes in the three varieties we need for our blends (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier) from the whole of Champagne (56 vineyards).
To ensure excellence, we have enlisted the help of our wine-growing partners to select three localities in two Champagne "grands crus" vineyards to enrich our Tanagra cuvées: The locality "les chemins de Flavigny" in the terroir of Avize Grand Cru for Chardonnay.
They localities "les Marquises" and "les Livry" in the terroir of Verzenay Grand Cru for Pinot Noir.
The potential average alcohol content of the must, approaching 10%, and the excellent acidity of about 8.5 g H2SO4/l on average, are grounds to hope for a promising degree of balance. It is very difficult to make a prognosis about a wine at this stage. We will wait for the blends in April before giving an opinion.
We already know that we have the materials for creating some great cuvées, as long as we are selective.
This means 2013 will not be a great universal vintage, but it may be an exceptional vintage for some exceptional wines.
Written by Thierry Lombard, Champagne Medot
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