FRANCE HAS GREAT EXPECTATIOS FOR PERHAPS ONE OF THE BEST YEARS IN RECENT TIMES, ESPECIALLY FOR CHAMPAGNE AND BURGUNDY, AFTER MANY DIFFICULT ONES, THANKS TO SUNNY SEPTEMBER

The difference between a still uncertain and definitely not memorable vintage and one that has already been predicted as historic is geographical and it is the Alps. It has been raining incessantly in the large Italian wine territories while in the top French wine regions, the sun has been shining away. It warmed the vineyards of the Champagne region in recent weeks, and is continuing to accompany the grapes in the wine cellars of a particularly abundant harvest.
Spirits, so to speak, are back up and trust is taking over fear. The seasonal trend was certainly not as usual, as Dominique Demarville, winemaker at Veuve Clicquot told "Wine Searcher" (www.wine-searcher.com): "We had a very mild winter followed by a dry, hot spring. Flowering was early but normal. Everything was going along just fine until August, which turned out to be one of the wettest months ever. Fortunately, the sun came back in September, bringing a warm and dry climate, which allowed the grapes to ripen”.
Benoit Guez, winemaker of Moët & Chandon said, "there is a degree of variability from cru to cru, but I'm particularly happy about the grapes that come from Côte des Blancs and, further north from the Montagne de Reims”. Neither Guez nor Demarville, however, were willing to pronounce the potentiality of the vintage, because "it is still too early to say; we have to at least wait until fermentation is over”.
Charles Philipponnat, owner of the homonymous brand of Champagne, has no fear, however, expressing his enthusiasm: "I believe that 2014 will be a great year for our Clos des Goisses. I think that it compares favorably with both 1996 and 2004, although it is true that the potential vintage will be known only after fermentation”.
September was a godsend for yet another great French name, Burgundy, which had been literally brought to its knees, at least morally, by heavy hailstorms in June that destroyed nearly 40% of the vineyards in Meursault, Pommard, Volnay and Beaune. The weather has been good in the last month, and only 5mm of rain has fallen. So all doubts have been swept away - green and red grapes have both reached a healthy state and excellent ripening, and the harvest is almost over. According to the forecasts of the Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne (Bivb), as reported by the British magazine "Decanter" (www.decanter.com), 2014 is expected to return to "normal" productive level at quota 1.5 million hectoliters, after three decidedly scarce harvests, which contributed greatly to the price boom in the region. The 2013 vintage will be released en primeur, in November, and we estimate an increase in prices between 3 and 15%.
The effects of the scarce volume of recent vintages on the market can be seen from declining exports: 12% of the volume sold on foreign markets in the first seven months of 2014 over the same period in 2013, is not the result of commercial difficulties, but the lack of availability. Exports to the United States and the United Kingdom, reveal Bivb’s numbers have decreased, respectively, by 12.5%, to just under 8.5 million bottles, and 24% for 7.8 million bottles.
The increase in prices has helped mitigate the financial impact on the economy of Burgundy as values have fallen much less than volumes- less 1.6% and less 7.7% on the markets in the USA and the UK. But price increase is not necessarily the best answer, as Pierre Gernelle, director of the Federation des Syndicats de-Négociants Eleveurs de Bourgogne (Fneb) explained: “we risk losing shares in traditional markets because of higher prices. Some of our regular customers cannot afford the uptrend decided by the producers in Burgundy, so we really hope that 2014 brings us back to a normal level of production, and that prices will return to more competitive levels”. Probably, however, "we will need at least two consecutive average harvests to see the actual effects on prices, while a 'weaker' euro would help jumpstart exports to the United States”.