Charles Heidsieck Brut
A short heat wave with important effects on the wines. Some people will not hesitate to compare this vintage to spectacularly hot years like 1995 or 2003. Following an extremely cold winter and spring without any notable impact from frost, the short-lived summer heat waves led to a phenolic maturity that, although late, was much higher than average. The almost autumn-like conditions at the end of the maturation process postponed the harvest to mid-September, and even early October in certain sectors, which is exceptionally late when compared to harvests in recent Champagne history. Thankfully, rainfall during the harvest came just in time to amend the extraordinarily intense maturity. The wines are accordingly full-bodied and structured.