Changing Champagne
Author: Simon Field MW
It has been clear for while that the growing imbalance between supply and demand in Champagne, fuelled by burgeoning international demand, is set to lead to shortages in certain markets, with concomitant higher prices and hopefully a more carefully selected distribution chain.
Pretty much every corner of the 33,500 hectares where vines are permitted to be planted has now been planted. A victim of its own success perhaps? A licence to print money for the lucky few? Stark economic reality weighs in favour of the cherished concept of terroir. On one side of the fence a hectare will be worth a modest €5,000 , on the other a rather more impressive € 1 million. There is clearly an argument to extend the area for the vines, modestly, but to do so in such a mannered and punctilious fashion, the process gives off a semblance of propriety rather than profiteering.
So the INAO have done the research, have employed the geologists, the climatologists, in short all possible experts and have identified 40 new communes where, apparently, the quality of the land, soil, aspect and so forth is deemed suitable for Champagne vines. Just for good measure 2 communes have been expelled; their ‘terroir’ deemed no longer, to coin a phrase, ‘fit for purpose’. A slight imbalance, at first blush.
Vines, of course, take rather a long time to produce good fruit; this addition of the number of communes from 319 to 357 will only engender suitable fruit from 2021, and logically, will thereafter increase production by somewhere in the region of 12-15%. If global demand continues to grow at its current rate, this will only have a minor effect in the grand scheme of things. The majority of the new communes are in the Marne Valley and in the ‘satellite’ enclaves of Aube and Aisne; none especially near to the famous Grand Crus such as Avize and Le Mesnil-Sur -Oger.
It is easy enough to snort at Tartuffian double standards and the rather belated discovery of the intrinsic merit of this new land, yet one has to remember that Champagne has built its astonishingly strong market position through the labours of caution and a disinclination to favour short term gain. One may, contrary to atavistic inclinations, perhaps, give the Champenois the benefit of the doubt and see this expansion as both necessary and well-planned. After all, at one point, a century ago, the delimited area was almost double its current size. In that light the expansion seems modest and, dare one say it, sensible….
I’ve read many articles over the past few weeks regarding the expansion of this region, and I believe the Champenois have received a little too much stick for it. Many thanks for such a great read – it’s very refreshing to come accross something which deals with more than one side of the story for a change.
[…] Simon Field urges consumers to give “the Champenois the benefit of the doubt” in a recent post on the Berry Brothers & Rudd Fine Wine Blog, I’m inclined to disagree. If it is true […]
Ben, thanks for the comments. I think the next step for them is actually identify appropriate sites within these new villages; let’s hope they stick with south-facing chalk and do not get tto carried away!
Simon
Thanks Alan for your comments. I have been sounding out the growers and they do seem to share a degree of suspicion in terms of some of the sites, this allied, of course, to healthy doses of commercial self-awareness and therefore approval of increased volumes. I wonder if the difference between the two scenarios, Champagne and Chablis, is that in Champagne there has been no inference or implication that these new villages are to rival the finest in the region. The issue is whether or not they are good enough..the differences in style between the various Chablis described appears irrelevant to this discussion, especially given the Champenois proclivity for cross-regional blending and their reliance on dosage to camoflague any minor stylistic differences. The vast majority of the new villages are in the Marne Valley, which reduces the impact of the admittedly valid comments re the soil structure in the Aube.
[…] Here is about the expansion of the appellation area. […]
This topic has elicited some interesting perspectives on both Champagne the wine and the brand. Any change in the wine world is contentious nowadays – look at St. Emilion and the Cru Bourgeois and legal wranglings that resulted there. Looking at the economic perspective I seem to remember during the last major recession in the early nineties the Champenois were having problems shifting their inventories but along came the Millennium and a strong marketing push. We are now heading into less rosy times for the markets and looking at increasing output….either prescient for the next economic upturn or a risk? Time will tell, but I am desperately hoping that champagne and wine do not become simple commodities – although some might argue they already are…
[…] Expands – Mr. Field’s Response April 2, 2008 — auvin I wholeheartedly appreciate Mr. Simon Field’s response to the questions I reaised in a previous entry. If nothing else, it’s a reflection of the […]
A very valid point made by Alastair….things were all of a sudden rather tricky for the Champenois in the early 1990s. They may choose not to spend too much effort in rememberance of this thing past, citing the vast vistas of international sales potential which have since opened up. However, the Jeremiahs are right to point to the economic similarities of the two periods.
It seems that there are indeed several of the new villages selected that are located in the Aube; but what about adding some of the chalky parcels adjacent to Ambonnay or Le Mesnil -Sur-Oger, perhaps fundamentally with more potential for authenticity, and, if you will excuse that word, ‘typicity’ not to mention the geographical kudos, by association, with some of the finest villages in the region.