CHAMPAGNE PORTFOLIO OVERVIEW
Types of Producers
•
N.M. (Négoçiant Manipulant)
• Négoçiants houses who use any purchased grapes
•
R.M. (Récoltant Manipulant)
• Growers houses who use only their own grapes (can source up to 5% of total
volume)
•
C.M. (Co-opérative de Manipulation)
• Co-op a group of growers who produce Champagne together under one or
multiple names
•
R.C. (Récoltant Co-opérateur)
• a co-operative member who sells a co-operative produced Champagne under his
own brand name
•
M.A. (Marque d'Acheteur)
• Private label
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Production Structure
•
Négociants own less than 25% of the vineyard area but produce more than 70% of
Champagne
• 97 large négociants account for 95% of Champagne sold
•
Less than 50 growers own more than 15 hectares or produce more than 80,000
bottles
•
Annual Production Figures
• Moet & Chandon- 26 million bottles
• Veuve Cliquot- 10 million bottles
• Ruinart- 2 milion bottles
• Bollinger- 1.5 million bottles
• Pol Roger- 1.5 million bottles
• Krug- officially ~500,000 bottles but more likely more than 1 million bottles
• DSWE PRODUCERS COMBINED < 1 million bottles
DIVERSITY
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
TRADITION
Production Statistics
•
Two-thirds of total sales for 2013 were generated by 5 groups of houses
• 1 LVMH: Moët & Chandon + Mercier + Ruinart + Veuve Clicquot + Krug
•
2: Vranken + Pommery + Heidsieck & C° Monopole + Charles Lafitte
•
3: Lanson - BCC : Lanson + Burtin Besserat de Bellefon + Boizel + Chanoine +
Philipponnat + De Venoge + Alexandre Bonnet
•
4: Laurent-Perrier + De Castellane + Salon-Delamotte + Lemoine
•
5: Pernod-Ricard: Mumm + Perrier-Jouët
•
More than one-third of total sales for 2013 were generated by the next 20 large
houses and groups
•
Less than 5% of the total sales of Champagne is generated by small houses and
growers
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Vineyard Area
• 34,000 hectares of vineyards
• 278,000 plots of vines
• 320 villages
• Echelles de Crus ranks villages
not vineyard sites only in the
Montagne de Reims, Côte des
Blancs, and Vallée de la Marne
• 17 Grand Crus
• 44 Premier Crus
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Viticulture
•
Grape varieties- 7 Permitted, 3 Primary, 4 Legacy
• Pinot Noir – 38%
• Pinot Blanc
• Chardonnay- 32%
• Pinot Meslier
• Pinot Meunier- 30%
• Fromenteau (Pinot Gris)
• Arbanne
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Viticulture
Viticulture
Pruning Methods- 4 Permitted
•
•
•
•
Chablis system : cane pruning, leaving short bud-bearing canes
Cordon system : spur pruning on a single permanent ‘cordon’
La taille Guyot : cane pruning, keeping one cane and one spur per vine (Single
Guyot) or two canes and two spurs per vine (Double Guyot)
La taille Vallée de la Marne (Pinot Meunier only) : cane pruning
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Harvest & Pressing
•
Harvest by hand
• Timing Regulated by CIVC start date set for each village
• Maximum yield per hectare set annually by the INAO
•
Gentle pressing of whole bunches, not destemmed
• 2550 liters maximum from 400 kilos of grapes (a marc)
• Cuvee = first 2050 liters
• First three presses after free-run juice
• Taille = next 500 liters
• Final pressing for wine
• Subsequent juice that sent directly to the distillery by law
•
•
•
•
Traditional Vertical Basket Press (Coquard)
• >50% Presses, 1/3 of grapes
Horizontal Screw Press
• 1/3 of presses, ¼ of grapes
Horizontal Pneumatic Press
Horizontal Hyrdraulic Press
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
First
Fermentation
First Fermentation
Just like for still wine, variables that affect the base wine or VIN CLAIR include:
•
Vintage & Harvest Conditions
•
Grape Varieties
•
Fermentation Vessel- Oxidative versus Reductive Winemaking
•
Type/Strain of Yeast- Indigenous, Cultivated, Biodynamic?
•
Fermentation Temperature/Speed- Cellar location, Temperature Control?
•
Malolactic Fermentation
•
Sulfur & Additions, Filtration, Fining, Decisions
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Assemblage
Assemblage
Historically, blending was vital in Champagne due to extreme climate and
division between firms and growers
Factors
•
Vintage Conditions
•
Grape Availability
•
Reserve Wine Availability
•
House Style
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Second Fermentation
Méthode Champenoise (Traditional Method) = second fermenation in bottle
•
After blending and racking, LIQUEUR DE TIRAGE is added to induce the
process
• Blend of yeast and sugars and nutrients to maintain the yeast
•
The still wine is then bottled and sealed with a crown cap (or sometimes a
natural cork) and the prise de mousse begins
•
Duration depends on temperature but lasts generally from a couple of
weeks to several months
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Sur-Lie Aging - Autolysis
•
Complex series of reactions as yeast cells break down after second
fermentation while the wine remains in contact with the spend yeast cells
SUR LIE
•
Results in yeasty biscuity characteristics
•
Most active within 4 years after second fermentation
•
Bottles are traditionally positioned horizontally and stacked on top of
another SUR LATTE during this process
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Remuage - Riddling
•
Finished sparkling wine after additional aging is placed in PUPITRES or
GYROPALLETES to begin the process of isolating the sediment to prepare
for disgorgement
•
Bottles are gently rotated and inverted to nudge sediment down the bottle
resulting in an upside down bottle SUR POINTE with the sediment all in the
neck
•
Hand disgorgement- traditional but labor and time intensive
• ~ 8 weeks
•
Gyropallettes – most common due to efficiency and speed
• ~ 8 days
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Disgorgement
•
Sediment by the rapidly opening a bottle of sparkling wine without
displacing the wine
• by hand (à la Volée)
• or automated
•
Bottle is topped up with base wine (plus dosage if applicable) via LIQUEUR
D’EXPEDITION
•
Wine is re-corked ready for release after short aging to allow the dosage to
integrate
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Dosage
< 3 g/L = Brut Nature
< 6 g/L = Extra Brut
<12 g/L = Brut
12-17 g/L = Extra Dry
17-35 g/L = Sec
32 – 50 g/L = Demi-Sec
> 50 g/L = Doux
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Portfolio
Côte des Blancs
•
Grape Varieties: 96% Chardonnay, 3% Pinot Noir, 1% Pinot Meunier
•
Soil: Cretaceous chalk
•
Grand Cru Villages: Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Oiry
•
Geography:
• 20 km 180 m high slope from Chouilly on the outskirts of Épernay south to
Vertus
•
Viticulture
• Vineyards lie on east and southeast faces of chalk slope
•
Leading Grower Producers
• Jacques Selosse, Agrapart & Fils, Jean Milan, Salon, Pierre Peters, Guy
Charlemagne, Pierre Gimonnet, Veuve Fourny, Diebolt-Vallois, LarmandierBernier
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Champagne Philippe Gonet
Year Founded: 1783
Proprietors: Pierre and Chantal Gonet
Winemaker: Pierre Gonet
Annual Production: 200,000 bottles
Vineyard Area: 23 hectares
Cuvées
Grand Reserve Brut
Rosé Brut
Blanc de Blancs Brut Signature
Blanc de Blancs Brut Zero ‘3210’
Roy Soleil Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut
Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut Millésimé
Belemnita Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru
Extra Brut Millésimé
KEY POINTS
• 3/4 production / 100% of Blanc de Blancs production from estate fruit
• 23 hectares divided among 47 parcels
• 70% Chardonnay: 13 / 4.5 ha in Le Mesnil sur Oger, 1 in Oger, 6 in
Montgueux, Le Breuil, Fontaine sur Ay, Vertus
• 25% Pinot Noir: Vertus, Montgueux, Le Breuil, Fontaine sur Ay, Vertus
• 5% Pinot Meunier: La Chapelle-Mothodon
• Le Mesnil-sur-Oger location since 1910
• Best Grand Cru for Chardonnay in Champagne
• 1/3 of the Gonet’s Chardonnay sites are in Le Mesnil inc. one parcel that was
planted in 1929
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
• Family Owned & Operated since 1830
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Côte des Bar
•
Grape Varieties: 85% Pinot Noir, 8% Pinot Noir, 7% Pinot Meunier
•
Soil: Kimmeridgian marl topped by Portlandian limestone- extension of the
Kimmeridgian strata that runs through Chablis to Sancerre
•
Vineyard Area: 7,000 hectares
•
Geography:
• More than 100 km south of Epernay
• 3 separate areas
• Montgueux- chalk outpost near Troyes
• Barsequenais- centered Bar-sur-Seine, Seine, Ource, Laignes valleys
to Courteron (1.2. km from the border of the Côte d’Or)
• Barsuraubois- Essoyes to Bar-sur-Aube
•
Leading Grower Producers:
• Fleury, Drappier, Cedric Bouchard, Jacques Lassaigne, Mairie Courtin
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Champagne Fleury
Year Founded: 1895
Proprietor: Fleury family
Winemaker: Jean Sebastien Fleury
Annual production: 200,000 bottles
Vineyard area: 15 hectares
Cuvées
Fleur de l’Europe Brut
Cepages Blancs Brut
Millésime Extra Brut
Sonate No. 9
Bolero
Saignée de Rosé
KEY POINTS
• First to bottle under own name in the Aube
• First biodynamic producer in Champagne
• 200 biodynamically farmed hectares in Champagne
• 100 biodynamically farmed hectares in the Aube
• 30 biodynamically farmed hectares managed by the Fleury family
• 15 biodynamically farmed hectares owned by the Fleury family
• Commitment to continue to experiment, educate, and innovate
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Vallée de la Marne
•
Grape Varieties: 63% Pinot Meunier, 27% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay
•
Soil: limestone, clay, marl, sand, flint
•
Grand Cru Villages: Aÿ, Tours-sur-Marne
•
Geography:
• from west of Château-Thierry to Épernay
• divides the Montagne de Reims from the Côte des Blancs
•
Viticulture
• Pinot Muenier dominates this frost prone region because it is a late
budding and early ripening
•
Leading Grower Producers
• Jacquesson, Gaston Chiquet, Philipponat, Henri Goutorbe, Rene Geoffrey
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Champagne Dehours
Year Founded: 1930
Proprietor: Jerome Dehours
Winemaker: Jerome Dehours
Annual production: 80,000 bottles
Vineyard Area: 14 hectares
Cuvées
Grande Réserve Brut
Les Vignes de la Vallé Brut
Rose Oeil de Perdrix Brut Millesime
Trio S
Blanc de Meuniers Millesime
Les Genevraux Millesime
La Cote en Bosses Millesime
Brisefer Millesime
La Croix Joly
"For me, meunier is the identity of the domaine” - Jerome Dehours
KEY POINTS
• Grandfather Ludovic founded the estate in 1930- one of the first
independent growers
• Father Robert was early promoter of value of reserve wines
• Jerome took full control of the property in 1996 focused heavily on
sustainable viticulture and expressing the character of individual
terroirs
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
• Extensive vineyard holdings with 3 individual Coquart presses allow for
microvinifications and strict selection from a large palette of wines
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Montagne de Reims
•
Grape Varieties: 56% Pinot Noir, 28% Chardonnay, 16% Chardonnay
•
Soil: Cretaceous chalk with some mixture of clay and sand
•
Grand Cru Villages: Mailly, Verzenay, Verzy, Ambonnay and BouzyPuisieulx,
Sillery, Beamont-sur-Vesle, and Louvois
•
Geography:
• a large horseshoe shaped region starting at Aÿ in the south facing Épernay,
and going up and around to the north, bending under Reims
•
Viticulture
• sheltered vineyards (less prone to frost) sloping down towards the rivers
Vesle in the north and Marne in the south
• West of the village of Ludes and south west of Reims, Pinot Meunier
becomes more significant
• Pockets of Chardonnay found mostly in the eastern facing villages Villers
Marmery (98% Chardonnay) and Trépail (91% Chardonnay)
•
Leading Grower Producers
• Bérèche & Fils (Ludes), Chartogne Taillet (Merfy), Egly-Ouriet (Ambonnay),
Benoît Lahaye (Ambonnay), Jérôme Prévost (Gueux), Camille Savès (Bouzy),
DIVERSITY
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
TRADITION
Champagne David Léclapart
Year Founded: 1988
Proprietor: David Léclapart
Winemaker: David Léclapart
Annual production: 15,000 bottles
Vineyard Area: 3 hectares
Cuvées
L’Amateur Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut
L’Artiste Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut
L’Apotre Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut
L’Achimiste Rosé Extra Brut
L’Astre Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut
L’Eden Coteaux Champenois Rouge
“The objective is to respect that which is born in the vines and to enable
that to be transmitted to the wine drinker without modifying. Just
accompanying it, following it and preparing it so that the drinker can
understand, enjoy and get those elements from the wine they’re drinking.”
-David Léclapart
KEY POINTS
• Fourth generation grower in Premier Cru Village of Trepail
• David took control in 1996 with a commitment to biodynamic principles
• Ecocert & Demeter certified since 2000
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
• Fermentation in enameled vats or used oak barrels
CHARACTER
(from Domaine Leflaive)
EXPRESSION
Sales Summary
•
DSWE Annual US Champagne Sales
– 5,000 9L cases
– $2,000,000 annual revenue
– 7,500 points of distribution
•
2012 Annual US Champagne Sales
– 1.24 million 9 L cases
– $477 million sales revenue
– Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot enjoy a combined market share
of ~ 60%
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Account Spotlights
• Glass Pours
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Keith McNally Group: Balthazar, Cherche Midi
The Nomad
BR Guest Group- Atlantic Grill, Ocean Grill, Isabella’s
Union Square Hospitality Holdings (Danny Meyer)- Marta, North End Grill
Sant' Ambroeus, Casa Lever, and Felice Wine Bar
The Four Seasons
The Waldorf Astoria
DIVERSITY
TRADITION
CHARACTER
EXPRESSION
Account Spotlights
• Prominent Listings
– B&B Hospitality: Del Posto, Babbo- New York
– Eleven Madison Park- New York
– Faith & Flower Los Angeles
– Gary Danko- San Francisco
– Le Bernardin- New York
April 10, 1972
– Legal Seafood’s- Boston
– Per Se- New York
– Pops for Champagne- Chicago
– RN74- San Francisco
– Saison- San Francisco
– State Bird Provisions- San Francisco
– Sushi Nakasawa- New York
– The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas
– The Standard Hotel Group- New York, Miami, LA
– The Wynn Las Vegas
DIVERSITY
CHARACTER
TRADITION
EXPRESSION