Champagne and Australia

CHAMPAGNE IS THE GREATEST SPARKLING WINE ON THE PLANET. IT IS, HOWEVER, SO MUCH MORE.

WORDS KEN GARGETT

NO WINE ANYWHERE ELSE CREATES such a thrill, such expectations, when we hear that cork pop. No wine is so closely associated with celebrations and special moments – weddings, christenings, ship launches, Christmas parties, romantic dinners (whoever proposed over a glass of port?), sporting victories, family reunions and so much more – than Champagne. No wine uplifts the spirits or brightens a dull day in the way that a glass of Champagne can; it is truly inspiration in a bottle.

Think of this; you are told that you can only take one style of wine with you to drink for the rest of your life – your desert island wine, if you like. Only one. How many of us would not hesitate? Surely Champagne is the obvious choice.

If there is a downside to being seen as the world’s choice for celebration, then it is simply that too often, those enjoying the wine don’t take a moment to appreciate just what a great wine Champagne can be. The finest Champagnes sit comfortably alongside the great Grand Crus of Bordeaux, First Growths of Bordeaux, venerable old Vintage Ports, and anything else you might like to throw at it. They are brilliant, extraordinary wines and no cellar is complete without them.

The Champagne region is a joy to visit – nowhere else on this globe of ours does hospitality like the Champenoise. No one else comes close. Visiting Champagne Houses is a joy – there are the great wines to savour, the extraordinary crayeres to visit, the history to absorb.

Champagne is a defined region of around 34,000 hectares, approximately 4 per cent of the total vineyard area of France (and a mere 0.4 per cent of the total vineyard area in the world). It is now effectively fully planted. The majority of this great region, around 90 per cent, is owned by growers, most of whom sell their grapes to the Houses and the cooperatives (more and more growers are making their own Champagnes as well as selling grapes – one of the most exciting developments in the region in many years). The Houses may only own around 10 per cent of the land of Champagne, but they produce and sell about 70 per cent of all Champagne and 90 per cent of the Champagne which is exported. It really is a curious region. All up, there are about 300 Houses, 150 cooperatives and almost 16,000 growers.

Champagne is exported to almost 200 countries around the world. Even though sparkling wines are made in almost every wine-producing region on the planet, not only do none match the ultimate quality of Champagne, but 13 per cent of all sparkling wines consumed on earth still come from Champagne – a figure that has been largely steady for the last thirty years. Production in 2014 was a staggering 337 million bottles. Remember also that there are many, many more millions of bottles quietly maturing in the cellars beneath the streets of the cities and towns of the region – like Reims and Epernay. Estimates put the quantity of champagne held in stock at nearly 1.5 billion bottles. In other words, there is an extraordinary amount of joy in those cellars, just waiting to work its magic.

Sales in 2014 were 307,136,564 bottles of Champagne, around the world. 215,093,681 of these were made by the Houses with the remaining 92,042,883 bottles made by cooperatives and growers. 162,266,302 of these bottles were sold in France (89,659,070 from the Houses and 72,607,232 by the cooperatives and growers – a split of 55 per cent to 45 per cent), 53 per cent of all production. The remaining 47 per cent, 144,870,262 bottles, were exported (125,434,611 bottles having been produced by the Houses with the remaining 19,435,651 by the co-ops and growers – it is obviously far easier for the small growers to sell their Champagnes locally than to export them – a split of 87 per cent to 13 per cent).

The United Kingdom is the preferred export market, taking 32,675,232 bottles. The United States, with just under 20 million, is next, with Germany third, bringing in over 12 million bottles. Japan and Belgium follow, with Australia in 6th place, with more than 6.5 million bottles – a great achievement when viewed on a per capita basis (also worth mentioning that

within Australia, Queensland is usually the leading market on a per capita basis). Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Sweden round out the top ten export markets in that order.

While sales of 307 million bottles is impressive, in 1999, the total topped 327 million. This was largely in anticipation of millennium celebrations. The world stocked up! It was a record at the time, though it did dull the market for a few years following, as the markets worked their way through the leftover stocks. The following year, 2000, shipments dropped to 253 million bottles. The all-time record was set in 2007 with 339 million bottles.

It hasn’t always been such exciting times and the build to today’s heady sales has been slow and steady, for the most. In 1950, shipments totalled a mere 32 million bottles, while only 10,500 hectares, of the potential 34,000 hectares, were planted. A decade later, that had increased to 50 million bottles. We can see how the region was battling the rise of sparkling wine from other areas. By 1985, Champagne sales, now around 200 million bottles annually, represented 12.4 per cent of all sparkling wine sold in the world. In 1960, even with a much smaller production, that figure was 33 per cent. Even in 1975, it was still 25 per cent.

By 1996, plantings were nearly reaching saturation point, with 30,700 hectares planted. In 2011, a ‘plot-by-plot’ appraisal of the Champagne vineyards was commenced. Plantings now totalled 33,344 hectares.

While we wait to see what the future holds for the region, one thing is surely without doubt; Champagne will continue to brighten the lives of millions of people around the world. It is the finest sparkling wine on the planet and the first choice whenever we need to celebrate.

Champagne – nothing else comes close! ❧