Årgång 2017 enligt Champagne Club by Richard Juhlin

★★

Även 2017 var ett kaotiskt år med flera extremer. Det är tyvärr också en försmak av vad den globala uppvärmningen kan ge i framtiden. En extremt varm och tidig vår ledde till farligt tidig knoppning. Som ett brev på posten kom frosten och halverade den potentiella skörden.

I Aube ännu mer! Efter det var vädret extremt varmt, som du kanske kommer ihåg, med värmerekord. Stormar i augusti förstörde ytterligare frukt och i slutet av augusti var man tvungen att återvända från semestern för att bärga en besvärande liten och svag skörd. Knappast heller av någon riktigt bra årgångskvalitet och inte alls i närheten av vad man lyckades skapa i Bourgogne 2017. 

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2017 by Curtis Joseph

[no stars] 

• Harvest: September 26th
• Total Sales: 307,379,350 btl
• Yield: 10,057 kg/ha 
• France: 153,512,913 btl
• Area under vine: 33,868 ha 
• Export: 153,866,437 btl
• Average potential alcohol: 10.2% 
• Prix Constaté : €6.10/kg
• Average total acidity: 7.9 g/l
• Average gluconic acid: 0.3 g/l

Overview: A poor year, with rain and rot at harvest

An unusually dry winter preceded the campaign of 2017, with 30% less precipitation than average. There were several weeks right after budbreak from the end of March through mid-April that saw a series of severe spring frosts, with twelve nights of hard frost that affected nearly the entire region. From mid-April, however, conditions improved, and fine weather returned.

May and June were slightly hotter than average, but rain returned in July. The balance of the month was hot and very wet, ultimately rainier than any other year since 2001. The rain continued into August, but the temperature dropped. The main difficulty in 2017 was grey rot in the vineyard, which began in July and intensified in August. In some areas, the grey rot developed into sour rot. Overall, Chardonnay was least damaged by this problem because of its thicker skin. Approximately 20% of the region was affected by rot in 2017. As with many years with grey rot and sour rot, Drosophila flies were an issue in 2017. The fruit ripened only with difficulty, and the harvest was very late. The quantity of gluconic acid was the highest of the decade thus far. Given the health of the grapes, an exceptionally intense sorting took place during the harvest. Few of the vins clairs that I tasted in the Spring of 2018 were truly exciting. I always hold out hope of some interesting wines, but in general, it seems likely that few if any vintage wines will be made and the best one can hope for from this year is to provide suitable base wines for the non-vintage blends.