Latest news: champagne in France
Champagne is becoming ever more popular as record sales in 2007 prove. But is the bubbly bubble about to burst as demand threatens to outstrip supply? Emerging markets in China and Russia are demonstrating a thirst for the prestige drink; sales figures from January to September 2007 show a 45 per cent increase in bottle sales in China, year on year.
In an effort to increase supply, the French government is considering proposals to extend the AOC champagne jurisdiction to allow more land to be cultivated for the production of champagne. Currently, some 34,000 hectares are designated as AOC champagne from which all the world’s champagne must be produced. This figure has remained unchanged since it was first set in1927 and constitutes just 7.8 per cent of the total surface area of French land with AOC status.
While extending the appellation would solve the current problems, it raises concerns for the future of champagne. Anthony Barne, Living France wine expert and UK head of wine at the London auction house Bonhams, is wary of the proposals: ‘Champagne is one of the marketing success stories of the appellation system, which is based on the fact that it comes from a unique soil and climate. If they start to stretch out the boundaries it totally undermines the principle of this uniqueness, and it could be just the thin end of the wedge.’
As Decanter magazine reports increasing champagne prices in the US, it remains to be seen what future the government decides for champagne in France.