(Wine Searcher) - The maximum appellation quantity remains unchanged despite the high yields.

Grape yields in Champagne are through the roof, with one of the largest harvests in living memory in the offing – but the appellation authorities are keeping a lid on how much growers can produce.

On July 24, the Comité Champagne (CIVC) held its yearly pre-harvest meeting deciding upon the maximum appellation quantity, which once again has been set to 10,800 kg per hectares. This equals last year's quantity and reflects the region's expectation that the Champagne market will level out in 2018, even if a slight growth is expected for the following years. Champagne is a rare region to set its appellation quantity in terms of sales forecasts, rather than actual yields in the vineyard. And those yields are looking very abundant.

Claude Castelina, a 78-year old grapegrower from Hautvillers, who has worked in the vineyard for close to seven decades, told Wine-Searcher that he has never seen as many grapes on the vines. Jean-Mary Tarlant, of Champagne Tarlant, agrees while adding that the harvest looks to be bigger than 1970 and 1983