Champagne Charles Collin Cuvee Millesime 2009 and Jean Gimonnet Prestige Brut Nature 2010

September in Champagne means one thing, HARVEST! To celebrate the beginning of the 2024 vintage, this month we are sending out vintage champagnes. Hurrah!
The 2024 harvest will commence any day now, and it has been a very challenging growing season. Since the beginning of the year, the vineyard has been particularly wet. As a result of the lack of sunshine and a cool start of the vegetative period, vineyards are under strong but controlled mildew pressure. Spring frosts and hail have had a moderate impact on the harvest potential (around 10%). The vines show a slight delay in development of five to six days compared to the ten-year average. The beginning of the harvest is expected to take place on average around 10/12 September.
As we reflect on what sort of harvest lays ahead, we look back at two contrasting vintages of 2009 & 2010.
2009
The 2009 vintage was pushed until September 8, until there was a real summer in Champagne with grapes effortlessly reaching maturity. The year started with a cold winter, but mild spring temperatures. Early summer was variable but August and September provided ample sunshine and warmth
contributing to fine grape health. The harvest of grapes with generally high sugar content yet soft acidity produced a voluminous crop.
2009 is a year of generous wines that showed well early, already being rather open and impressive as vins clairs. Good grape health and ripeness contributed to the overall quality and, despite the richness and a certain softness in the wines, heaviness did not end up being a problem.
2010
The 2010 vintage for Champagne is generally regarded as a disappointment.
A lacklustre growing season began with an icy winter and chilly spring. However, early summer brought promise with a bout of warm, dry weather. The dry conditions continued throughout the summer and drought soon became an issue causing some vines to shut down. Fortunately, in a dramatic turn of events, the heavens split open mid-August and a deluge of rain fell. The heavy rains considerably boosted vine growth but some grapes became diluted and waterlogged. Rot and unwelcome botrytis also became a serious problem, and the wet conditions continued through to the harvest mid-September.