(Wine-Searcher) - Growers in Champagne and the Rhône get ready to pick their grapes.

The French harvest will soon get underway, with officials from Champagne and the Rhône Valley announcing that picking will begin early next week.

Growers in Champagne are expected to lead the charge, beginning with vineyards in the Aube area. Picking is expected to begin on September 8, and will continue throughout the month in the rest of the carefully regulated appellation.

Despite some inclement weather early in the season, the 2014 vintage has been favorable overall in the region, especially compared to the poor 2012 and 2013 vintages. Production in Champagne is now expected to increase by 20 percent above the five-year average due to the season's weather patterns.

Picking levels were set in July at 10.5 tonnes per hectare (4.7 tons per acre).

At the peak of harvest, some 120,000 seasonal workers will gather in grapes from Champagne's 34,000ha (84,000 acres) of vineyards in the departments of Aube, Aisne, Marne, Haute-Marne and Seine-et-Marne.

In the Rhône Valley, harvest is expected to begin as early as September 10 in the southern part of the appellation, and a couple of weeks later in the north. Inter Rhône, the region’s viticultural trade organization, is very optimistic about the 2014 vintage, which promises to be better than that of the previous five years.

A statement from Inter Rhône assured consumers: "A year without real water stress and balanced development of all varieties promises quality and quantity for the Côtes-du-Rhône and the Rhône Valley harvest."