Class war breaks out between champagne houses over rising prices

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Lanson chief Bruno Paillard accuses Dom Pérignon owner LVMH of driving the cost of a bottle beyond the reach of ordinary French families

https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/champagne-war-french-producers-gcfqd78ct

https://archive.li/nCaHa



The eastern French region which ­produces champagne likes to portray itself as a place of festive harmony. But the image has been shattered by an outbreak of its own version of the class struggle, which is pitting the rich against the exceedingly rich. In one corner is the man labelled the “regional emperor”, in the other, the so-called “pope of luxury”. LVMH, the luxury goods group which owns exclusive brands such as Moët & Chandon and Dom Pérignon, has been accused of driving the price of champagne so high that ordinary families can no longer afford it. The claim was made by Bruno Paillard, the chief executive of Lanson, which owns mid-range champagnes such as Chanoine and Boizel.


Bruno Paillard has been called the “emperor” of the Champagne region
Alamy

Paillard, whose fortune is said to be more than €100 million, claimed that LVMH, which was founded by Bernard Arnault, whose wealth is estimated at about €150 billion, was responsible for a “mad increase” in the price being paid for grapes in the Champagne region. He said this was resulting in a general increase in the cost of bubbly. Paillard said LVMH was using “commercial aggressiveness of unprecedented violence” to acquire the region’s grapes. He said other champagne houses had been forced to match the price being paid by Arnault’s group. Paillard added: “The result is that the [champagne houses’] cellars are all full of [bottles] that are too expensive by comparison with what is acceptable for the market.”


Bernard Arnault, who is nicknamed the “pope of luxury”, with his wife Hélène
Stephane Cardinale/Getty images

The big champagne houses buy most of their grapes from independent vineyards in the region. For decades, the grape market was regulated by professional bodies which determined both price and quantities. But since the turn of the century, many of the regulations have been scrapped. The liberalisation was broadly welcomed when champagne sales were rising around the world. Vineyards, for example, were paid ­almost €9 a kilo for their grapes in 2024, according to L’Union, the regional newspaper. Two decades earlier, the price was €4.25 a kilo. But tensions have emerged over the past couple of years as the global thirst for champagne has dried up. Last year, for example, the region sold 266 million bottles, compared with 325 million in 2022 and 299 million in 2023.



Lanson announced a profit of €16.2 million last year, a 32 per cent drop compared with the previous 12 months. LVMH’s wine and spirits ­division recorded a 5 per cent decrease in revenue. “The champagne market has been out of order for ten years or so and the mad rise in the price of grapes has something to do with it,” said Paillard, who was born in the city of Rheims in the Champagne region. Le Monde described him as the “regional emperor”. Arnault, for his part, is nicknamed the “pope of luxury”. Paillard said the champagne houses had turned their backs on ordinary families under LVMH’s influence. “Champagne has lost its working-class customers and I think it’s a big mistake,” he said.

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1. Working to develop a palate for less expensive grapes.

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2. Years ago we discovered the vitner where Dom studied

Their product is a dry sparkling wine. Champagne is only from one area. Here is something to stock up for Orrex's celebratory thread post.

Saint-Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux Brut is a fresh, lively, and crisp sparkling wine with a dry finish. Praised by Robert Parker as comparable to top-quality nonvintage Champagne at a fraction of the cost, it offers exceptional value.

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4. Review: Saint-Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux Brut (2021)

https://the-wine-fairy.com/2025/03/05/review-saint-hilaire-blanquette-de-limoux-brut-2021/



Our wine topic today is a budget sparkler with a cool story. The year was 1531. At the abbey of Saint-Hilaire at the base of the Pyrenees, some monks noticed that bubbles appeared in casks of fermenting white wine. They documented their findings and worked out methods for production and distribution.

Thus, Saint-Hilaire is France’s oldest sparkling wine. Those funky monks pioneered the craft of sparkling wine a full 100 years before Champagne’s industry got poppin.’

Noted wine collector Thomas Jefferson had Blanquette de Limoux in his cellar. It was known as the wine of kings and aristocrats long before the startup bros of Champagne excelled in marketing French bubbly as a luxury good.

But is firsties also besties? I opened this bottle for a special occasion, hoping it would satisfy both my Champagne taste and sparkling-wine budget.

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3. Drink cremant instead -- it's champagne on a beer budget.

https://winefolly.com/deep-dive/cremant-wine/

Learn All About Crémant Wine
Written by Kanchan Schindlauer
Crémant is a group of sparkling wines made with the same technique as Champagne, but from outside the Champagne region. This article details the nine different Crémant wines of France and Luxembourg.

Do you have “Champagne taste on a beer budget?”

There is a group of sparkling wines that will satisfy your desire for high quality bubbly. Crémant employs labor-intensive secondary bottle fermentation, as does Champagne. There are a wide variety of styles to choose from, as Crémant is made in eight different appellations throughout France (and can also be found in neighboring Luxembourg).

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5. Cremant is quite popular here in Sweden. Good call.

Richard Crémant du Jura Brut Nature Blanc de blancs (less than 20 usd)

Lovely bubbles with a touch of origin from the super trendy Jura in eastern France.

The wine has a fruit-driven style with hints of yellow plums, stone fruits, lemon, mineral character and a hint of both toast and light chocolate.

Perfect for au gratin lobster or a more luxurious salmon tartare.

https://www.systembolaget.se/produkt/vin/richard-cremant-du-jura-287501/

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6. I can't tell the difference.

My cousins in Luxembourg always break out a bottle or two when I visit.

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7. We love Luxembourg. A hidden little gem of a nation. Superb food as well. Great Portuguese restos, as

many Portuguese fled the Salazar dictatorship and ended up in Luxembourg of all places.

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8. To an American, it's what was and be what Europe should be like.

Save Kirchberg, maybe. It serves its purpose, though. The cousins that I'm closest to live in Luxembourg City, but I've been to many places in the country because some of the family is scattered or still live in the town my grandfather came from.

Like most Americans, probably, I probably like the Grund best.

There was a time when many of my family members had Portuguese house cleaners. Sounds like many are still in Luxembourg.

My sister and I have been looking into regaining citizenship since tsf's first term. We both find the documentation process, and the expense, fairly daunting so we've never applied.