dominated by the négociants— that is unlikely to change. We began in a period where the so-called“ RM” Champagnes— the Récoltant- Manipulant Champagnes [ grower Champagnes that tend to be sourced from single or closely located vineyards around a village ]— comprised 0.62 per cent of the market in the U. S. That number has now grown to nearly 3.7 per cent. That’ s substantial growth, but I don’ t see enough good growers making enough wine to make any more of a 5 per cent dent in the market share for Champagne overall. What really has happened is the entire way we talk about Champagne has changed. The conversation is no longer under the exclusive control of the suits with spreadsheets, who are the overlords and grand poobahs of the big houses.
GH: So in a sense, this is changing our impression of Champagne?
TT: Yes, we see it through the prism of terroir and artisanality as discussed by the growers, in a conversation which is repeated and added to by me and others like me. When I started, 33 récoltants were being shipped to the U. S. and that number is now almost 170. So there’ s more grower Champagne coming along all the time. And the assumption that if you are a serious restaurant with aspirations to Michelin Stars, the Champagne you will pour by the glass will come from one of the big houses has been completely toppled. And these people just hate it. I have talked to wine buyers at these restaurants who have told me that when they threw off the big négociant Champagne by-the-glass, they were subject to an almost unbelievable attempt to seduce their business back in the form of give-aways, tchotchkes, monogrammed neck-ties, polo shirts, sets of golf clubs, price concessions, sales people bludgeoning them three times a week, saying,“ What will it take to get the pour back? We’ ll do anything.” I remember one sommelier said to me, as he placed the first order for one of my producers to pour— and this is a direct quote:“ It’ s a pleasure to be dealing with wine merchants again.”
Another collateral advantage to all of this is that, because Champagne is such an interesting story now for journalists, it is really under the microscope. People are talking and many of the big houses have discovered that they can no longer get away with shrouding their operations in smoke and mirrors. The greater the transparency throughout the information matrix, from producer to merchant to ultimate consumer, the better things are for the consumer, and ultimately as well for the producer.
GH: Can you elaborate on the distinction between a grower-producer and a large négociant?
TT: The large négociant— who may or may not own some vineyards— buys some or all of his grapes from a network of small growers, some of whom are under contract, some of whom just play the spot-market each year. The grower-producer is someone who keeps the produce, makes it into Champagne, bottles it, and sells it with his or her name on the label. To the extent that more producers are doing this, it makes the négociants a little bit nervous, because it threatens their grape supply. And it may sound proverbial but it is certainly true: no grower sells a négociant the best grapes, unless the producer sells the négociant all of the grapes.
This destabilizes the fragile balance in the system: the négociants depend upon the growers for grapes; the growers depend upon the négociants for, in effect, building the market for Champagne as a commodity.
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