The Future Of Champagne
- Joey Hunter
- May 16
- 2 min read
The Future of Champagne
“Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the winner of them all? If I could read the crystal ball, would it tell me if the future of champagne (also with the capital C) lie in the hands of maisons or recoltant-manipulants?
Climate Change and The Change of Style
The impact of climate change since the past 10 years has exerted profound influences on wine style. In general, the warmer weather has not only changed the fruit expression in both sugar and acidity level, it is also changing the terroir expressions due to the differences in vineyard position and soils composition.
Historic maisons tend to have their fool-proofed cuvée that goes with hundreds of years tradition. However, maisons like Louis Roederer, Jacquesson, etc., have also begun to develop a MV collection that focusses on the most recent vintage that projects the essence of both terroirs and the freshness of fruits without crtfomprising the house style.
Quoting Jean-Baptiste from Roederer, “We are trying to make a champagne that allow the fruits to express themselves.” (not his exact words)
"If the micro weather is affecting the fruits regionally, where shall we look for the best (and better) quality that truly carries the spirit of Champagne?"
We turn our eyes on mono-cru and mono-parcelle. Hence, the rise of recoltant-manipulants (RMs) who focus on mono-cru and mono-parcelle, their single-vineyard fruits speak volume of a specific terroir and the cuvée showcases the ‘perfect balance’ between climate, soils, fruits and human efforts. It is not to mention that a lot of these growers have been supplying their premium products to the major houses, including Moët, Billecart Salmon, etc.
If RMs have been supplying their grapes and juice, why don’t they make their own champagne as well? The answer is money. Champagne business of lucrative, but it is also investment-heavy. However, RMs such as Sélosse, Jerome Prevost have made their own success through perseverance and weathering (pun-intended) through hard times. Now, the timing is mature, more RMs are following their path to curate their top-rate grower champagne for the international market.
Eric Rodez and Héroine, are definitely the growers to watch out for, the former has a rich experience under Krug’s wings and the latter with Sélosse. Their champagne is curated for pleasure-seekers who live at the present and love the finer things of life, as well as the connoisseurs who appreciate the hard labour behind-scene and the aging potential of each bottle.
Growers – The Future
With all the climate changes, the champagne world has also evolved to being more terroir-driven. Mono cru and mono parcelle will be the major trend in the next years onwards. Not only are growers bringing more niche and high quality champagne, but they also position themselves in a very competitive price point against the maisons. In the range of HK$650-$1,000, the quality of grower champagne can be on-par with HK$2,000+ grandes marques.
Recommended Growers Champagne
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