After the black year of 2020 due to the pandemic, a 2021 of growth and a very successful 2022, 2023 marks a sort of "return to normality" of the Champagne market, with shipments comparable to those pre-Covid. The data reported in the Comité Champagne press release of 13 January 2024[1] reveal a drop in total sales of Champagne: 2023 recorded 299 million bottles sold compared to 326 million bottles in 2022 (-8.2%); however, this figure is in line with 2019 which recorded 297.3 million bottles sold.
In particular, the French domestic market has recorded a progressive slowdown in sales due to inflation which has also influenced the consumption of Champagne, the average shelf price of which has increased by over 10% in a year[2]. Emblem of "l'art de vivre à la française", Champagne has therefore suffered from the inflationary context and the decrease in purchasing power has led to a collapse of approximately 20% in sales (in volume) of Champagne in French supermarkets in the last year compared to the previous year.
Despite the unstable context and the decline in sales, producers continue to move towards policies of increasing prices, aiming above all at the strong positioning and image of Champagne abroad, which is placed in a high and significant range of the offering range. Exports, in fact, represent 57% of total sales compared to 45% ten years ago, and this has allowed the denomination to maintain its turnover above 6 billion euros in 2023.
Maxime Toubart, president of the Syndicat Général des Vignerons and co-president of the Comité Champagne seems to welcome the return to normality positively: “Champagne is a denomination of origin produced in an area delimited and regulated by severe regulations which make it impossible to sustain a strong long-term volume growth".
Likewise, David Chatillon, president of the Union des Maisons de Champagne and co-president of the Comité Champagne also states: "the drop in sales in 2023 was expected, but with the maintenance of its value, Champagne remains optimistic for the future, even whether it is sensitive to the geopolitical context and developments in the global economy."
The new Champagnes from the GLUGULP! collection
If the celebrations of the last month have literally emptied your cellar, what better opportunity to refuel for the new year by choosing from the new Champagnes from the GLUGULP! collection?
Discover our selection of Champagne to start 2024 with a bang.
Let's start by talking about the Champagne Extra Brut Avize - Champ Caïn 2013 from the Maison Jacquesson, one of the most important Champagne companies in Dizy, in the Vallée de la Marne and today managed by the Chiquet brothers. The Champagne Blanc de Blancs Champ Caïn is part of Jacquesson's recent lieux-dits line, 100% Chardonnay grapes from a single vineyard planted in 1962 in the parcel of the same name in the Côte des Blancs. Millésime of the great 2013 vintage, it was vinified in oak foudres for 9 months and aged for 9 years on the yeasts before dégorgement without any added dosage. A Champagne with incredible purity, great freshness, salinity and chalky minerality.
Domaine Minière F&R is located in Hermoville, near Reims and its vineyards date back to the 12th century. Founded in 1919 by the Minière family, the company has grown over the years from generation to generation and in 2005 the nephews Frédéric and Rodolphe resumed making wine on their own from the 8 hectares of vineyards. The Champagne Blanc Absolu v19, pure Chardonnay from lieu-dit “Les Grands Blancs” is vinified and refined in fûts de chêne with a stay on the yeasts for 3 years and a final dosage of 4.5 g/l (Brut). A Champagne with intense floral and citrus notes, fresh, tense and mineral.
Also in the Montagne de Reims, the Maison Paul Bara dates back to 1833 and has been handed down from father to son for six generations. Its vineyard is located exclusively in the famous village of Bouzy, classified 100% Grand Cru. The Annonciade 2008 Champagne, 100% Pinot Noir, is the Maison's first Champagne produced with fût de chêne fermentation and aging for at least 10 years. Limited edition, this Blanc de Noirs is a tribute to my grandmother Annonciade, daughter of a winemaker from Bouzy, who married Auguste François Bara, a young cooper from a nearby village.
We return to the Vallèe de la Marne to talk about Champagne Alexis, born in 2015 from the ambitious project of Alexis, sixth generation of Champagne Xavier Leconte. The vineyards are made up of small plots distributed in the villages of Troissy, Dormans, Mareuil-le-Port, Vandières and Aÿ, managed by Alexis with meticulous attention by applying the principles of biodynamic agriculture. In the cellar, Alexis limits any intervention to the minimum, with little or no added dosages. The Champagne Extra Brut Aria 2016 is the result of 100% Chardonnay from the 2016 harvest, from vineyards in Troissy; the vinification is done in stainless steel and in 400L barrels, with aging for approximately 30 months on its own yeasts. A Blanc de Blancs with pleasant tension and lively acidity that will surprise you.
Continuing the journey in the Marne Valley, we find another young Vigneron, Paul Gosset, seventeenth generation of the Gosset family, winemakers and producers of Champagne in Aÿ since 1900. Paul is part of that new generation of producers with a non-conformist vision who approaches the techniques of tradition by reinterpreting them according to one's own contemporary vision. Its latest release, the Côteaux Champenois Rosé "La Tonnelle" is a rosé still wine produced for just 672 bottles. Blend of 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay from the 2021 harvest, the grapes are harvested in 3 different lieux-dits in Dizy, Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. This wine is vinified in whole bunches with maceration of the grapes for 3 weeks and aged in 500L oak barrels for approximately 14 months. Something new not to be missed!
Charles Dufour needs no introduction, his approach and his extraordinary stylistic choices make him a legend of the Côte des Bar. His bold Champagnes express the character of the limestone-clay terroir of this area and reveal the authenticity of the practices adopted in the vineyard and cellar. The Champagne Brut Nature "The ballad of the villages" is the result of the grapes harvested in the vineyards owned by his father Robert during the 2004 harvest and was finished by Charles (disgorgement in 2022) after 17 years of aging on the yeasts. Blend of Pinot Noir, from vineyards of Landreville, Chervey and Neuville-Sur-Seine, and Pinot Blanc from the lieu-dit "Le Champ du Clos" in Celles-sur-Orce in the Côte des Bar, it is a unique Champagne that fully represents the Charles Dufour style.
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[1] https://www.champagne.fr/fr/informations-complementaires/media/communique-presse-champagne/avec-300-millions-de-bouteilles
[2] https://www.lefigaro.fr/conso/l-impressionnante-chute-de-la-consommation-de-champagne-par-les-francais-20231212