Overview
- The Champagne wine body, which on Tuesday estimated roughly 40% of buds destroyed across the appellation, said the losses rank just behind 2003.
- Unusually warm late-winter weather pushed vine growth about three weeks early, so routine spring frosts hit tender buds harder than usual.
- Damage is patchy, with some plots in the Marne and near Château-Thierry in the Aisne reporting 60% to 80% of buds lost, growers said in field reports.
- Final harvest volumes remain unclear as the frost risk window lasts into May and weather in the coming months will shape yields up to harvest.
- Producers expect to draw on permitted reserve wines to cover any shortfall, and the sector is leaning into frost protection like water sprinkling and heated ventilators as it phases out CO2-heavy candles.