by Panos Kakaviatos -Police in Champagne have arrested 15 individuals under suspicion of stealing thousands of official ‘CRD’ capsule stickers.
The arrests were made in a 6am sting operation carried out last Wednesday. The ringleaders, identified only as David and Eric, have been indicted for the theft of 109,000 CRD capsules (
capsules représentatives des droits) – the colour-coded round stickers on top of wine bottles sold in France that prove that tax has been paid on the bottle.
The capsules came from two companies specialising in their manufacture: Sparflex, located in the industrial area of Dizy, and AMCOR Flexibles in Mareuil-sur-Ay, Champagne police representative Nicolas Weimer told Decanter.com Continue reading “decanter.com: Champagne ‘capsule thieves’ arrested”
by Giles Fallowfield – Up to a third of some Champagne vineyards have been affected by heavy frosts earlier this month.
Temperatures dropped to – 3°C in the Côte des Blancs with villages like Avize, Cramant and Chouilly the worst hit, while there was more widespread damage in the Côte des Bar as temperatures there fell to – 5°C.
Low-lying areas in the Côte des Blancs and the Côte des Bar have been particularly badly affected.
Chardonnay in the Côte des Blancs and the Grande Vallée de la Marne was the most vulnerable: it was more advanced with two or three leaves already growing in some well-exposed vineyards.
There has been widespread damage in the vineyards around Aÿ, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and Avenay. The relatively forward Chardonnay in the low-lying areas close to the Marne River, and also some Pinot Noir parcels, have been affected.
Moët & Chandon winemaker Benoît Gouez said that between 7% and 8% of this year’s crop had potentially been lost, with the worst damage in the grands crus of Avize and Aÿ, where up to 18% has been damaged. Continue reading “decanter.com: Champagne crop badly damaged by frost”
by Giles Fallowfield – Champagne is expected to go up in price in the New Year as grape prices increase in the region.
Champagne: grape prices up for 2011 harvest
Although Champagne is currently being heavily discounted by supermarkets fighting for market share, the rise in grape prices from the 2011 harvest means that selling prices for the main brands will be forced to rise.
The cost of grapes is expected to rise by at least 3% soon after the harvest and there was evidence of larger increases for grand cru grapes, sometimes as much as 4.5%.
Speaking in London at the launch of the 2000 vintage of their prestige cuvée Femme de Champagne, Carol Duval-Leroy, chairman of the eponymous house, said the increase in grape prices is ‘collective suicide, we are all going to the wall. Continue reading “decanter.com: Champagne price rise expected”
by Richard Woodard – Russian sparkling wine producers are to stop using the Shampanskoye name on labels after an 
historic agreement was reached at the weekend.
Image: Ultimate Wine Shop
Meeting at the Abrau-Durso winery in the country’s Krasnodar region near the Black Sea coast, members of the Russian Winegrower and Winemaker Union agreed in principle to outlaw the ‘Sovetskoye Shampanskoye’ trademark, without fixing a timescale for the ban.
The name, which was established under Stalin in the 1920s, is still widely used by privately-owned producers today. Continue reading “decanter.com: Russia to stop using Soviet Champagne name”
Die Ernte 2011, die sich in der Champagne dem Ende neigt, deutet auf einen einzigartigen Weinjahrgang hin. Der Gesundheitszustand der Trauben ist gut, die Chardonnay-Trauben sogar aussergewöhnlich. Mit dem diesjährigen Ernteertrag von mindestens 10‘500 Kilo pro Hektar sollte die steigende Nachfrage nach Champagner vermutlich bedient werden können. Continue reading “Eine ungewöhnliche Ernte in der Champagne”
by James Lawrence – The 2011 Champagne vintage is being hailed as one of the most unusual in the region’s history, as vignerons deal with the aftermath of one of the most difficult growing seasons on record.
Oenologist Herve Jestin, who consults for several properties in the Côte des Blancs, including Russian-owned Chateau D’Avize, told Decanter.com Continue reading “decanter.com: Champagne copes with difficult vintage”
by Giles Fallowfield – August holidays have been cancelled in Champagne in anticipation of a very early harvest, possibly the earliest on record – especially if the warm weather of March to the end of May continues. Flowering was generally completed before the end of May and in some places the vines were in full flower by 21 May.
Adding 92 days – the average time over the past decade in Champagne between flowering and the start of the harvest—picking could start on 22 August. However because August is usually warmer and has more sun than September, it is possible the period between flowering may be even shorter, at just 80 days, which means the first grapes may be cut on August 16.
The lack of rain also tends to accelerate the date, Louis Roederer winemaker Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon said, adding that he ‘would be ready to start from August’. Continue reading “Decanter: Champagne 2011 harvest could be earliest since 2003″
Stuart Todd – Champagne’s trade body, the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC), has opened an office in Russia and is planning to do the same in Brazil later this year.
Growing demand for Champagne in emerging markets has prompted the move. “These two new openings will take our international network of offices to 14, covering the ten major markets for champagne and the four main emerging markets represented by the BRIC countries,” a CIVC spokesperson told just-drinks today (17 May). Continue reading “FRANCE: Champagne Council opens office in Russia”
by Adam Lechmere - Two bottles of Champagne which lay for 200 years in the Baltic Sea come under the hammer in Finland in June.
They are part of a cache of 168 bottles found last summer in a wrecked schooner dating from the second quarter of the 19th century, in Finland’s Åland archipelago.
The name of the vessel is still unknown, as is its destination, but it is thought the cargo was bound for the court of the Russian Emperor Nicholas I in St Petersburg.
The bottles were pronounced ‘very much alive and remarkably fresh’ by Essi Avellan MW, editor of Finland’s FINE Champagne magazine, who tasted them last September.
The cache was first identified as Champagne Juglar, a house which was absorbed into Champagne Jacquesson in 1829.
Experts later found some bottles were Veuve Clicquot non-vintage from the early 1830s. Continue reading “Decanter: 200-year-old Champagne to be auctioned”
By: just-drinks.com editorial team – Lanson-BCC has reported a strong rise in full-year profits for 2010 thanks to stronger consumer demand for Champagne.
Net profits rose by 19% for the 12 months to the end of December, to EUR19.2m (US$27.2m), Lanson-BCC said yesterday (22 March). Earnings before interest and tax increased by almost 13% on the previous year, to EUR43.2m.
Stronger demand for Champagne, which led to an 11% rise in net sales to EUR305m, together with lower costs, lifted the Lanson Champagne producer’s performance for the year. Continue reading “FRANCE: Champagne rebound boosts Lanson-BCC FY profits”
by Richard Woodard -Rum giant Bacardi is one of about 12 companies to show interest in buying the Piper-Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck Champagne brands, sources in the region have told Decanter.com
Other potential bidders are believed to include Champagne’s leading player, LVMH, plus Vranken-Pommery Monopole and BCC-Lanson, as well as the region’s largest co-operatives, Alliance Champagne and Nicolas Feuillatte. Continue reading “Decanter: Buyers eyeing Piper-Heidsieck & Charles Heidsieck Champagne, say sources”
by Richard Woodard- Champagne supplies are beginning to run dry after the sector staged a ‘remarkable’ recovery from the economic downturn, according to luxury goods giant LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton).
Announcing 19% growth in wine and spirit revenues to €3.26bn during 2010, LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault said prestige cuvees including Dom Perignon and Krug had been the star performers. Continue reading “Decanter: LVMH – Champagne in short supply”
By: Stuart Todd – Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte has announced a 16% rise in volume sales in 2010, to around 8m bottles. The Champagne house did not release value sales data, but said net sales for the 12 months were level with 2009.
“These results reflect the growing recovery in the champagne market, especially in the second half of last year,” a company spokesperson told just-drinks. “Despite continued uncertainty on the economic front, Nicolas Feuillatte is confident about 2011.” Continue reading “FRANCE: Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne sales rise in ’10″
just-drinks.com editorial team - 
Champagne Gosset has lined up a global revamp of the packaging for its namesake Champagne brand.
The company confirmed earlier this week that it “has modernised its packaging and labels to bring the brand into line with latest ecological concerns, demonstrating the company’s commitment to sustainable development”.
While colour-coded labels and boxes will be introduced, the bottle shape will remain the same, Gosset said. “The antique-style Gosset bottle … is still being used for the new-look Grande Réserve, Grand Rosé and Grand Millésime, with red, pink and green coloured livery respectively,” the company said.
The new look is being introduced globally as each market takes delivery of new stock.
by Maggie Rosen – The Champagne region is embroiled in a legal battle to prevent the French national atomic agency ANDRA from dumping nuclear waste near its vineyards.
According to French press reports, the CIVC - Champagne’s trade association – has asked the administrative court in Châlons-en-Champagne to cancel permission granted to ANDRA in August 2006 to continue storing low level radioactive waste at its facility in Soulaines. The site is located within 9km of Champagne’s Côte des Bars. Continue reading “Decanter: Champagne continues fight against nuclear waste dump”
The arrests were made in a 6am sting operation carried out last Wednesday. The ringleaders, identified only as David and Eric, have been indicted for the theft of 109,000 CRD capsules (capsules représentatives des droits) – the colour-coded round stickers on top of wine bottles sold in France that prove that tax has been paid on the bottle.
from Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
