France raised champagne's alcohol limit to 15% after a hot summer
Jane Anson says stronger champagne will not help sales because drinkers increasingly want low alcohol, and bottles from this harvest will not reach shops until 2028.
Morning Brew Daily · AI Leaders Agree to Slow Things Down & Tesla Makes a Surprising ComebackFrance has raised the legal alcohol limit for champagne to 15%, up from 13%, for the first time ever.
The change lets producers keep selling their wine even if this year's harvest ferments stronger than the old law allowed.
The reason is this summer's heatwave in France. The heat left grapes with extraordinarily high sugar content, and sugar turns into alcohol when grapes are made into wine. Without the higher cap, producers working with especially sweet grapes could have struggled to stay within the old ceiling.
The stronger bottles will not reach drinkers right away. Champagne must mature for a minimum of 15 months before sale, so wine from this harvest will not start appearing until 2028.
Jane Anson, a wine columnist and author, told The Times that higher-strength champagne is unlikely to help sales: "Today, people increasingly prefer low alcohol."
The higher cap keeps unusually ripe grapes from falling outside the law. The first bottles from this harvest will reach shops in 2028.
Questions people ask
Why does sweeter grape juice make stronger wine?
Yeast eats sugar in grape juice and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. The more sugar in the grapes at harvest, the more alcohol in the finished wine unless the winemaker intervenes to remove it.
What makes champagne different from other sparkling wine?
Champagne is sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France under strict production rules. Those rules cover grapes, methods, aging times, and now, the maximum alcohol level.
Does the new limit mean all champagne will be 15% alcohol?
A limit caps how strong the wine can be and still be labeled and sold as champagne. Raising it to 15% does not require stronger wine, it simply keeps unusually ripe grapes from falling outside the law.