NO LEG ROOM IN CHAMPAGNE: 2011 WAS THE SECOND BEST YEAR EVER FOR THE FRENCH MAISON THAT NOW WANTS MORE SPACE FOR PRODUCTION AND WIDER DIFFUSION OF THE DENOMINATION, SAYS “LE MONDE”

There’s no leg room to spare in the Champagne region, and since 2011 was the second best year ever for French “bubbles”, thanks also to exports, with sales reaching 330 million bottles (almost pre-crisis numbers), people are again talking about making the production zone larger. The project started in 2006 when INAO (Institut National de l’origine et de la qualité) engaged 5 independent experts (an historian, a geographer, an oenologist, an agronomist and a phytosociologist) to review the borders and see where champagne could be produced. In 2007, the 5 experts presented their project, which indicated an increase in municipalities that could produce the famous bubbles (from 634 to 675) and also where it would be possible to grow Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier vines (from 319 to 357). The global financial situation that hit even the French terroir, however, seemed to have stopped it in its tracks. But now that Champagne has proven to be stronger than the crisis, the big maisons, according to the French daily “Le Monde”, are pushing for more space. This means either enlarging the production zone, or “throwing out” some small producers. Italy, with more than 7 million bottles for 50 million euros in value is the fifth market for the French “bubbles”.
Many of the maisons in Reims and Epernay are marketed in Italy by important Italian brands: Castello Banfi sells Joseph Perrier, Antinori markets Perrier- Jouët; Lodovico Antinori’s Biserno Estate sells Champagne Pol Roger, the Montresor Winery distributes De Venose; Ceretto in Piedmont markets Delamotte and the exclusive Salon, Chiarli 1860 sells Marie Stuart; Fazi Battaglia sells Champagne Deutz and Angelo Gaja distributes Gosset. And, finally, Pasqua Vigneti e Cantine sells De Saint Gall while Ambrogio & Giovanni Folonari import Brochet Hervieux, Veuve Doussot, Marie Le Brun and Yann Alexandre.