Say it isn’t so: just hours after we reported that a shortage of orange gourds could lead to a perfunctory pumpkin beer season, we get news that Champagne makers are preparing for a shortage of the bubbly beverage. 

Producers of the sparkling wine say a late spring frost and inclement weather, along with rot and mildew in Champagne, France, cut the yield of grapes significantly this spring, Decanter reports.

In fact, the Champagne makers say the 2016 yield is the lowest for the industry since the 1980s.

One winemaker tells Decanter that the late frosts in the Côte des Bar region — which houses a quarter of the Champagne vineyards — caused him to lose 70% of his harvest.

Another grower says he expects yields between 2,500 to 3,000 kg/ hectare, well below the previously expected 10,700 kg/ hectares.

But just because there were fewer grapes grown this year, doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t be able to pop a few bottles of bubbly.

Vintners have prepared for just this kind of event by keeping reserves on hand that can be used to supplement harvests.

Still, Champagne makers tell Decanter that to produce enough of the beverage for the current season growers will have to “dig heavily on their reserves.”

Champagne shortage looms after frost, rot and mildew [Decanter]
[via Eater]

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