Workers in France’s Champagne region are bringing in the harvest.

And it looks like a bumper crop of grapes for this year’s bubbly.

That’s thanks to a hot, dry summer that has helped the fruit ripen super-fast.

Vineyard operator Vincent Leglantier says an August harvest comes as a shock:

"We've never seen this in the history of the Champagne region. It's the first time that we're starting this early. To remind you, I'm 34, and 20 years ago the norm was to start harvesting around September 15 or 20. My mother is 74, and 50 years ago, it was normal to harvest around October 15.”

Many think the change is down to global warming.

And for the industry, the trouble is that a bumper, early harvest is exactly what isn’t needed right now.

Champagne makers are grappling with a slump in demand for the fizzy drink.

The virus crisis has hammered sales in their three top markets - the UK, the U.S. and Japan.

Damien Champy runs a vineyard cooperative:

"Of course during the pandemic, the loss in sales led to an excess in stock of about 30 million bottles, so it's colossal, considering the total sales in 2019 of 298 million of bottles, plus a stock that already existed. So today in the Champagne region, we have a stock of more than 1 billion bottles. So it's absolutely colossal.

That has producers worried about a glut, which could drive down prices and tarnish champagne’s exclusive image.

In response they’ve decided to cap the quantity of grapes that can be brought in.

Anything over the agreed amount has to be left in the fields to rot.

Turning things around next year, will require a world in more celebratory mood.