Champagne harvest starts earliest after heatwaves

France's Champagne region has begun its earliest recorded grape harvest after successive heatwaves accelerated grape ripening, industry officials said Wednesday.

The official harvest opening dates range from August 8 to August 22, depending on location and grape variety. David Chatillon, co-chairman of the Comite Champagne industry association, said the publication of the dates marked the earliest on record.

Harvest dates in France have been moving earlier since the 1980s, a sign of a warming climate. In Champagne, grape picking now starts roughly two weeks earlier than it did 20 years ago.

Chatillon said grape quality “looks good”, although Champagne's sales quota has been reduced for a fourth consecutive year because of global economic uncertainty and recurring climate-related risks.

France's agriculture ministry has also exceptionally allowed Champagne producers this year to buy up to 15 percent of their grapes, grape must or wines from others, compared with the usual limit of five percent. The industry requested the measure after spring frosts destroyed nearly 40 percent of buds in vineyards, and drought later left grape clusters less plump because of a lack of water.