2005, 2015, and 2020 have similar taste profile issues to me, with 2005 being the most pronounced, and 2020 the least (so far - small sample size).
I’m kind of like Brian. I have just enough experience with some of these vintages to be dangerous. I don’t taste anywhere near as comprehensively as I used to but reading these posts certainly brought on some memories. Also, there are producers that really buck the trends with vintages. Related, I find that vintages in Champagne are less likely to be consistent across producers. As in a large amount of producers will not make great wines in great vintages and some producers will make very good wines in vintages written off by most people.
2002 - I remember thinking the wines were by and large ‘very good’ but also that there was a general want to call it a better vintage than it actually was. I remember extremely mixed experiences across the several tastes of Dom P back when those were released that made me avoid buying it.
2004 - This seems like a year where Chardonnay seemed to shine. One of those vintages where skilled producer made some undercover terrific wines that needed a lot of time to shine.
2008 - Is there someone who doesn’t think this was an excellent vintage? One where I particularly noted that not everyone made great wines. I get the feeling that many smaller producers are just trying to hit a window to make a good wine given the constraints in Champagne and are not adept at taking advantage of jackpot kind of years.
2012 - Great reputation that I’ve struggled a whole lot with getting into my glass. One vintage where I’ve also done comparison tastings in. Many times when I’ve tried the wines they came off as closed but then again I’ve never run into Champagnes that were so tight so far from harvest across so many producers. I’m holding my bottles for now but at least one comment above about possibly being overrated was comforting to me.
2013 - Weirdly overshadowed by 2012. Seems to be a solidly strong year.
2014 - Another vintage I’ve struggled with.
2015 - All over the place. The Bollinger LGA was quite nice out of the gate so I drank mine down. Because other wines have been kinda bad. Mine field.
2016 - Seems like another sleeper ala 2004.
2018 - Another vintage where the reputation precedes the quality. Lots of people like to tell you the acid is low because that’s the rep. “Oh gosh….ripeness in Champagne!? Quelle horreur!!! I must pronounce all bottles bad upon reading the label!!!” Its been a solid year to my palate. Not great but certainly doesn’t fit the mold of the reputation up and down the lineup. Again, many producers know what they are doing.
2019 - Most of the wines I’ve tasted were MV’s with this as its base but my memories are strong. I hope to try more.
Thanks Cris and Brian. I think most of us are in that same boat. Unless you’re doing a lot of blind tasting or are in the trade sampling constantly, all any of us can really do is offer our impressions based on the experience and information we have.
The value here is in the collective. Many who follow the Champagne thread have paid close attention over time, and taken together those experiences tend to converge into something pretty useful.
Cris,
This describes my feelings about 2008 just a couple of years ago. For my palate, that vintage took forever to come around, and some are still really tight.
Cheers,
Warren
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Dan,
You have a lot more overall wine experience than I do, but I’ll take a stab at it.
I don’t recall seeing vintage reports that specifically call out the Aube on its own. Most of what I’ve read tends to talk more broadly about whether a vintage favored the whole region and all grapes, or Chardonnay (Côte des Blancs), the black grapes across the Montagne and Vallée de la Marne, rather than isolating the Aube.
That said, I can see how parts of the Aube might have done relatively better in a year like 2010. Drainage and a slightly different climate probably helped. It’s further south and a bit warmer. It’s also mostly Pinot Noir, which may have handle that vintage better. The Kimmeridgian soils probably helped with drainage. All of that may have lessened the rot pressure.
More generally, the Aube has a lot of rebel growers who’ve focused on lower yields and more hands-on farming. For example, Fleury stands out as a biodynamic pioneer, and a number of others, like Bouchard and Marie-Courtin, seem to be doing well with that. Coessens is doing interesting things, and Gerbais is working with Arbane and Petit Meslier.
While 2010 was clearly an ugly vintage overall, it wouldn’t surprise me if certain sites and producers in the Aube came out looking better than the broader region.
That’s my guess, but a real expert might poke drainage holes in my theory.
Cheers,
Warren
I know you said generally (and I have not drunk very widely in the vintage), but two that I find special are the Taittinger CdC and the Dom Ruinart. Both are really elegant wines. I am sure that the reason these wines stick out is because they are 100% Chardonnay (which supposedly did better in the vintage than the red grapes in Champagne) but I very much enjoy the wines.
Now, the 2007 is not as good as the out of this world 2008 - I think the 2008 is a combination of the richness of the 2006 and the elegance of the 2007. But, standing on its own, I love the wine.
07 salon is really good too.
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So many of these wines are delicious, and the only time I’d ever find them lacking is if I forced the issue by doing a side by side comparison, which is not how I drink most of the time. Sure, there are definitely duds and disappointments, but plenty of high quality wines from supposedly lesser vintages are absolutely lovely. Maybe my palate is simply not as discerning, or my memory not as good, or my analytical skills not as dialed in, but never have I drunk a delicious wine and thought “I am loving this, but I am also sad because it’s not the 08 which maybe I loved a little more.” My brain and sense of pleasure just don’t work that way.
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Do you find that there are regions that fare better in hotter/cooler vintages? Or is it a bit all over the place?
There are some patterns that appear to be consistent based on the geography, the topography. I think the Montagne de Reims does relatively better than other sub-regions in cool seasons, for example, and I think the Vallée de la Marne and the Cote des Bars does relatively better in hot seasons. But that’s really a gross generalization. And just one man’s opinion.
What this all gets to is that vintage in Champagne is a bit of a blunt instrument. For sure, wines from great vintages (like 2008, 2012) will tend to be better than wines from poor vintages (like 2011 or 2017), but the terroir, the sun, the rain, disease, farming, and winemaking all are variable even within a sub-region. There always be some good wines made by good winemakers in bad vintages, as several have noted above in this thread.
But if you buy Champagnes mostly without tasting them first, intending to lay them down for a long time before drinking them, there’s not a lot else to go on. For me, tasting notes, even from pros, aren’t necessarily super reliable either.
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I just updated my impression of 2003. I’ll start doing a deeper dive into some of the vintages listed and see how things are panning out.
we opened 03 Krug from magnum last year and it was really nice (although any krug from magnum is gonna be pretty good).
169 from magnum was a revelation by the end of the paulee gala; people were pouring out glasses of Rousseau Chambertin and DRC to get some haha
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03 Krug Mesnil has been wonderful multiple times. Sure it’s not the amazing 02, but only a touch off.
03 DP P2 has also been very good, although so far the first bottle I opened right on release has been the best - super fresh and bright. So I’m not sure if it’s improving with more bottle age.
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Any recent impressions of 2013 DP?
2003 when done right is a vintage that is going to continue to surprise. For reasons I do not fully understand, long lees aging greatly benefits wines from 2003. This was counterintuitive to what most Champenois expected and did - which was lesser lees aging and an early release to enjoy the fruitiness of the wine. I still remember mixing up 2003 and 2000 Krug.
I am not saying 2003 is an all-time great vintage, but it is going to end up above average and better than years like 2000, 2014, 2016, and probably 1998 and 2006.
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Still tight. 2015, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2008 are all drinking better right now depending on what you are looking for. The 2013 is a very good wine, just one that needs time.
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E and I had 3 bottles of that on emirates first a couple years back haha
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Here are thoughts from the Paillard brothers in Bouzy on the vintage years back to 2008:
2008 — Crystalline tension
Cool, slow-ripening year of exceptional acid balance.
Bouzy delivered rare maturity with razor-sharp freshness.
Straight, saline, chalk-pure; built for decades.2010 — Aromatic finesse
Heterogeneous season demanding strict selection.
Red-fruited, savoury, and refined rather than powerful.
A vintage of nuance and texture.2012 — Power and depth
Very low yields after a difficult spring, followed by a luminous summer.
Dense structure and concentration, framed by chalk tension.
Broad-shouldered, authoritative, long-lived.2016 — Lift and precision
Chaotic early season, rescued by a superb late summer.
Fresh, linear wines with vivid mineral drive.
Clarity and definition over opulence.2019 — Balance and harmony
Warm, dry, and perfectly paced growing season.
First fully realized Paillard vintage: precision, purity, integration.
Benchmark expression of Bouzy chalk.2020 — Controlled power
Hot year with unusually concentrated fruit.
Low yields, old vines, and deep chalk preserved balance.
Compact, dark-fruited, powerful yet saline.2021 — Classical freshness
Cool, challenging year with reduced yields.
Bright acidity, citrus drive, and vertical structure.
A return to a classical Champagne profile.2022 — Solar, sculpted
Warm and generous, with better water balance than 2020.
Ripe, floral fruit with lift and definition.
Solar but controlled; classically Paillard in finish.
I’m surprised by the omission of 2013 (and to a lesser degree 2014), but they are speaking of Bouzy and Paillard in particular.
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That’s great additional information. I too am surprised about the omissions. They seem to like some warm vintages yet omitted 2009 and 2015. 2013 was better in the Cote de Blancs, but Montagne de Reims wasn’t bad.
I’m not sure this is the right place to raise it, but I’d like to open a short discussion on the 2013 vintage. I should say upfront that I’m biased - I’ve been a fan of this vintage from many houses.
Most 2013s can still be considered young. That said, I’ve found that with time and air, the wines start to shine rouhghly half an hour to an hour after opening. This has been particularly true for grandes marques such as Dom Pérignon, KRUG and Dom Ruinart.
Looking at tasting notes and scores for the vintage, many critics credit it with a long life ahead and draw comparisons to the 1980s and early 1990s, pointing to the October harvest - while at the same time cautioning that the wines will need time to open up. But 2008 also took time to open up - if one can say that it at all started to be open at this point - and few people held that against it.
On my local market at least, this has translated into repeated opportunities to pick up prestige cuvées at attractive prices - as little as 130$, including tax and delivery, and from reputable merchants; and most of those still hold noticeable quantities of the 2013.
I’ve stocked up whenever the opportunity arose, and the newer releases, such as of Dom Perignon haven’t really changed my approach. I’m beginning to wonder though, whether I’ve overlooked something and why the 2013 did not receive much more acclaim.
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FWIW - I opened the 2013 Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee back in December 2025, and it was showing incredibly well. Stood tall with the 2012 Taitinnger CdC and some other big guns.
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