Champagne holds its breath until the Saints de Glace (Ice Saints) are safely past (11, 12, 13 May), dreading a spring freeze that might destroy the future harvest’s fruitful buds.
Desuckering removes the non-fruitful buds (suckers or gourmands). Any unwanted growth is removed to optimise sugar concentration and encourage good sap flow.
The Champagne month by month
With a little over 34,000 hectares of vines, the Champagne AOC represents just 4% of France’s total vineyard area, or 0.5% of world vineyard acreage. It is nevertheless the top producer in terms of turnover.
In 1831, Auguste Boizel married Julie Martin, who came from a long line of Aÿ winegrowers dating back to the 17th century. In 1834 they founded Champagne Boizel, which is now into its fifth generation with brothers Lionel and Florent Roques-Boizel at the helm upholding the House’s motto: “Avec Boizel, la vie est belle” (with Boizel, life is beautiful).
The Champagne Houses
