Millennials are vital to Champagne’s future  

“Millennials are vital to Champagne’s future… because they are willing to look beyond the ‘just for celebrations’ mantra,” states Françoise Peretti, Director of the UK’s Champagne Information Bureau.

Millennials are deemed to be more digitally connected and open-minded than baby boomers.

Peretti further stressed the need to attract a younger generation of drinkers, and the potential demand among “open-minded” millennials.

“Unlike the Baby Boomers, they are open-minded consumers, willing to look beyond the ‘just for celebrations’ mantra,” she said of the age group, which covers those people from their early 20s to late 30s.

“This is their most important attribute: a desire to embrace the idea that Champagne can be a drink for the weekend, not simply New Year.”

Mentzendorff’s Andrew Hawes, who is the current chairman of the Champagne Agents Association believes that grower Champagnes are the key to unlocking the millennial market.

Hawes states “A quiet revolution has been building in the independent sector over the past few years.”  He further adds, “Independents are selling more and more grower Champagne to millennials – they are naturally drawn to the ‘craft’ credentials of smaller brands.”

In the US, Chicago-based sommelier Zach Jones recorded a similar development, and he goes on to say,  “Grower Champagne has had a huge surge in popularity with younger drinkers in the US, because there is a great story to tell and it gives younger consumers the sense that they are supporting a small family winery, not a massive machine.”

Sources:
Drinks Ontario
Champagne Information Bureau – UK

Comité Champagne launches (free) online course for trade professionals

The platform www.champagne-mooc.com offers insights designed for trade professionals who want to improve their knowledge of presenting, tasting, and selling Champagne. There are two versions available: the Classic Version and the Premium Version.  The courses are aimed at sommeliers, wine merchants, buyers, and sales representatives.

The Classic version, which is free, provides access to four educational modules: the Champagne making process; the Champagne terroir; the history and economy of Champagne; and diversity and tasting.

The Premium version costs E49 and has the same four education modules offered on the Classic course,  with additional content including extra videos, a test to assess the delegate’s knowledge, and the option to receive an official statement of completion.

The total course runs for less than five hours and the platform is available 7/24, with the option to start and pause at any time. The platform is available in both French and English with the possibility of subtitles in German, English, Chines, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Russian.

Italy’s Campari Group to enter champagne sector with Lallier acquisition

The Campari Group is set to become the first Italian company to own a Champagne brand.  Announced last week, Campari has entered into negotiations to acquire French company Ficoma, to acquire 80% of the shares of Champagne Lallier, and other group companies, with a view to total ownership. Campari’s shares ended up 2.9% after the announcement, outperforming a 1.7% gain in Milan’s blue-chip index.FTMIB.

Ficoma sold one million bottles of Champagne in 2019, including 700,000 bottles of Lallier.

If the negotiations lead to a sale, it will mark the entry of the first Italian player into the Champagne category.

Ficoma is the family holding of Francis Tribaut, the heir to four generations of winemakers and Champagne producers in France’s Marne region. The Champagne brand Lallier was founded in 1906 in Aÿ, one of the few villages classified as ‘Grand Cru’ in Champagne.

The potential transaction scope includes the brands, related stocks, and real estate assets including owned and operated vineyards, and production facilities.

Campari Group, founded in 1860, is the sixth-largest player worldwide in the premium spirits industry, trading in more than 190 countries. Campari owns 21 plants worldwide and has its own distribution network in 21 countries.

The company’s growth strategy is to combine organic growth through strong brand building and external growth via selective acquisitions of brands and businesses.

The company has a portfolio of more than 50 premium and super-premium brands, including Aperol, Campari, SKYY, Grand Marnier, Wild Turkey and Appleton Estate.

Champagne Beau Joie announces a new partnership with fashion brand Marchesa

Champagne Beau Joie states this week that the partnership includes the release of 1,000 limited-edition “couture bottles”. The bottles, which are the first in the ‘Marchesa for Beau Joie’ series, will be hand-beaded and embroidered. They carry a price of US $599 per bottle.

The series will also include several new products that will be available through luxury retailers, hotels and high-end resorts, as well as through their website.

The bottles will be designed by Georgina Chapman, the creative director and co-founder of Marchesa, in collaboration with Brandis Deitelbaum, the founder of Beau Joie.

“Georgina and I were asking each other why there isn’t a Champagne brand that’s an extension of a fashion house, something for everyday occasions or served at special events. It’s such a natural fit, fashion and Champagne, yet nobody else has done this,” said Deitelbaum. “We both agreed there was a tremendous opportunity here for such a product, and so we decided to create it.”

Champagne Beau Joie website:

http://www.beaujoiechampagne.com/

Drake Launches 2008 Vintage Champagne

Having unveiled his first Mod Sélection Champagne in January this year, Canadian rapper Drake is now ending the year by launching two 2008 vintage expressions.  Priced at US $480 and US $550 a bottle respectively is Mod Sélection Réserve Vintage 2008, and Mod Sélection Rosé Vintage 2008.

Mod Sélection Réserve is a blend of 10% Pinot Noir, 55% Meunier and 35% Chardonnay. According to the producer Maison Pierre Mignon, this wine has aromas of “rich, ripe fruit” with flavours of “orange peel, dried apricot, pineapple, brioche, nutmeg and clove” on the palate.

Mod Sélection Rosé Vintage 2008  is made using the saignée method and is a blend of 10% Pinot Noir, 50% Meunier and 40% Chardonnay. According to the producer it’s described as having a “deep-salmon hue” with “concentrated and complex fresh red fruit on the palate” with honey, ginger and sweet spice.

Commenting on the launch, founder and CEO of Mod Sélection Champagne, Brent Hocking, said: The attention to detail in every aspect of our production process is what sets this Champagne apart from all other 2008 vintages the industry has seen this year.

“We have purposely waited to release these special blends to ensure optimum quality and purity – and we believe they’re worth the wait.”

These releases mark the third and fourth product launches from the brand, following the launch of the Mod Réserve Champagne (US$300) and a Mod Rosé Champagne (US$400) earlier this year.

The new vintage Champagnes will be packaged in the brand’s brown metallic bottles and adorned with bronze detailing, made by craftsman from the Champagne region.

Champagne brand Mod Sélection operates in partnership with Champagne Pierre Mignon, a family-owned Champagne house based in Le Breuil in the Vallée de la Marne. The house has 16 hectares of vines, located in the Vallée de la Marne, Côte des Blancs, and Epernay.

Website: http://www.modselectionchampagne.com