Champagne Barons de Rothschild completes a historic 2026 harvest entirely in August

For the first time in its history, the House began and completed its harvest in August, following a growing season marked by frost, drought and five heatwaves.

The 2026 vintage will undoubtedly stand out in the history of Champagne Barons de Rothschild. For the first time since its creation, the House completed its entire harvest during the month of August. Picking began on 13 August in the southern Montagne de Reims, notably in Ambonnay and Trépail, and concluded on 27 August. In between, the Grand Cru Chardonnay vineyards of the Côte des Blancs were harvested from 17 to 20 August, followed by the Pinot Noir parcels of the Montagne de Reims and Petite Montagne.

This exceptionally early harvest followed a particularly demanding growing season. Three spring frost episodes affected the vineyards, destroying, according to the House, 38% of the surface area. The summer was then characterised by a complete lack of rainfall and five heatwaves. Despite these extreme conditions, the grapes arrived at the winery in remarkably healthy condition, with very high levels of maturity and promising balance.

The impact on yields was nevertheless significant. Across the House’s vineyards, the harvest reached 6,000 kg/ha, with particularly limited volumes from Grand Cru parcels. Several individual lieux-dits could still be vinified separately. Among them, Le Grand Clos, which was largely spared by the frost, emerged as one of the highlights of the vintage, delivering fruit of what the House describes as very high quality. Beyond its remarkable precocity, the 2026 vintage demanded considerable responsiveness both in the vineyards and in the winery. The House’s ability to work simultaneously across different sectors, together with the use of small vinification vessels, made it possible to adapt decisions quickly to changing maturity levels and the specific characteristics of each parcel.

For Guillaume Lété, Cellar Master of Champagne Barons de Rothschild, this extraordinary vintage is above all characterised by “remarkably healthy” fruit and very high maturity balances. The wines will, however, need to be tasted after ageing before the full qualitative potential of this particularly unusual growing season can be assessed. With the entire harvest taking place between 13 and 27 August, 2026 establishes a new milestone in the history of Champagne Barons de Rothschild, while once again illustrating the growing influence of extreme climatic conditions on the timing and management of the Champagne harvest.