Should Disgorgement Dates be Displayed on Champagne Labels?

Champagne House AR Lenoble has recently spoken out about their strong opposition to displaying disgorgement dates on the labels of bottles. They are re-printing their labels without the disgorgement dates despite the increasing trend to include them.

Disgorgement is a part of the Champagne-making process when the yeast sediment is removed after the second fermentation.

The importance of disgorgement dates and if they should be publicly displayed is under debate in Champagne.

Some winemakers say the timing of disgorgment has a subtle effect on the taste, therefore customers should have access to that information. However, many producers believe disgorgment dates are irrelevent because they vary from wine to wine, and there is no ‘ideal’ date. Each Champagne might require a different disgorgement date which works best for it; it doesn’t necessarily make it better or worse than another Champagne with a different date.

What do you think: Do consumers have a right to know the disgorgement dates? Or is it just an unnecessary number on the label which could confuse people?