Another instalment of infighting and bureaucracy has hit Champagne, this time over wrapping bottle necks in foil.
It is widely recognized that one of Champagne's greatest strength has always been the ability to show a united front in the way the region communicates about its wine.
Champagne is a rare appellation with just one wine (the Coteaux Champenois and Rosé des Riceys have their own appellations), and it is also the only wine region in France where one can only produce appellation wines – Vin de France made in Champagne does not exist. This means that every producer in Champagne is first and foremost an ambassador of the region and the individual brand comes second.
This system is based on a delicate balancing act between the regions stakeholders, who are represented by the Union des Maisons de Champagne (UMC) – representing the 370 houses – and the Syndicat Général des Vignerons (SGV), which defends the interests of the 16,200 grape growers and 130 cooperatives, that together govern the CIVC. The basis of this complicated system is that everyone feels their needs and interests are represented.
However, for the third year in a row, a group of winegrowers have come together to denounce the decision-making process, especially where the cahier des charges (the appellation rule book) is concerned.
Historic battles
In 2021 a group of winegrowers denounced the appellation’s desire to adapt more flexible plantation rules, promoting a significantly lower plant density per hectare. Several members of the group ended up opposing the change with the INAO, significantly delaying its implementation. It pays to point out that it was the first time Champenois producers opposed changes to the cahier des charges at INAO level, and it was especially telling that the opposition came from members of the SGV, the body that governs the organisme de défense et de gestion (ODG), the organization responsible for appellation regulation changes.
In December 2022, another group of wine producers engaged in a public revolt, when they denounced de decision to not add a herbicide ban to the cahier des charges in an open letter published in French newspaper Le Monde. The zero-herbicide promise had been made by the CIVC's co-presidents in 2018 and was backtracked solely by the SGV's president, Maxime Toubart, not even three and a half years later.
The open letter clearly illustrated how divided the region is on ecological developments as it put the spotlight on the proverbial moat between what is communicated by the CIVC and what growers are willing to do. One year on, the herbicide debacle continues, probably because herbicide usage, and especially blank spraying of glyphosate, has exploded this year because of the very wet spring.
Foiled again
The latest uprising is about a change to the cahier des charges to force producers to continue to use neck foils, even though the European Union made neck foils optional in 2023.
The neck foil has been donned by Champagne bottles for almost 200 years. Originally introduced to hide wine impurities and the fact that the bottle may not have been completely filled, they have over the years become emblematic. However, they are hardly a unique Champagne feature.
After the European Union (EU) made neck foils mandatory for all sparkling wine in 1999 – for hygiene and safety reasons – they also became the benchmark for Cava, Prosecco, English Sparkling and Crémant. However, as part of the EU Green Deal, reflections were made about the neck foil's use – which over the years had been reduced to mere aesthetics – and led to the liberalization of foil usage. From August 2023, the neck foil is no longer legally required for sparkling wine, and individual sparkling wine producers "may decide not to sheath the fastening with a foil".
As often with EU regulations, member states may impose extra rules, which for protected appellation wines in France means they are imposed in the cahier des charges. And this is exactly what the Champenois decided to do when they realized a handful of young and upcoming Champagne makers decided to ditch the neck foil as soon as they legally could.
Paper trail
In fact, Emeline Desloovere, a 33-year-old winemaker at Champagne Desloovere-Pienne, switched to a paper strip as soon as June 2023, thus before the EU regulation change was enacted.
"I wanted to drop the neck foil for ecological reasons, but was wary of the reaction from customers and trade. I therefore showed a few bottles with the paper strip at Wine Paris last year, and the feedback was incredible. Thus I decided to apply for a derogation from the DGCCRF [the French consumer protection organization], who approved it based on the pending EU regulation change."
The DGCCRF contacted the CIVC, who according to Desloovere had a neutral position at the time. This is why she decided to switch to paper strips on all of her bottles.
Alexandre Lamblot, from Champagne Alexandre Lamblot, waited for the EU regulations to change before removing the neck foil from all his bottles. Like Desloovere, his decision to switch was driven by an ecological mindset.
"We farm organically, we are aware of our carbon footprint and we are actively trying to reduce it. When the EU regulations changed, there really was no use to add the neck foil anymore – it had become a mere packaging surplus."
Lamblot told Wine-Searcher that his distributors and importers embraced the change and that his wines, which are sold between USD 60 and USD 200 in the US, have not suffered any commercial backlash. "These days, people are a lot less worried about the packaging and more focused on what is in the bottle."
Footprints and backtracks
The CIVC views things differently. While they originally took a neutral position, they are now lobbying to impose the neck foil in the cahier des charges and to do this as quickly as possible. According to Charles Goemaere, the CIVC's director-general, the EU, by liberalizing the use of the neck foil, left Champagne no other option than to impose it in the cahier des charges. He justified his reasoning by referring to some initial consumer studies, conducted in the late summer/early fall 2023, which tentatively concluded that the Champagne consumer seemed attached to the neck foil, and sees it as essential to identify Champagne wines.
This reasoning was also echoed by Toubart, co-president of the CIVC, who reiterated that imposing the neck foil in the cahier des charges needed to happen swiftly to avoid consumer confusion, but he added that this change could be reversed in a few years' time, if follow-up studies showed that the consumer perceived the neck foil as unnecessary.
However, the consumer studies are far from conclusive, according to the CIVC working group on the subject, which last year advised further research. Moreover, since plastic transparent thermo-retractable caps will be allowed, it is hard to see how they would meet the image of the neck foils used in the initial studies, which were gold, silver or other-colored aluminum foils. But under EU regulations these caps were allowed and as the wording in the cahier des charges will echo the previous EU requirements, there will be no change there.
Neither Goemaere, nor Toubart explained why there was such an urgency to pass this change now – before more studies have been conducted – or what would happen to the small group of producers who have already changed their packaging to remove the neck foil and who would have to make another change to reinstate it. No comments were made on why the democratic process, where discussions are launched at local level, had not been followed, or why people voting for this cahier des charges change were unaware some producers had already ditched the neck foil and that imposing it on appellation level would leave them stranded.
The urgency may have been fueled by the very successful PR campaign Westbrook Marketing Partners put together for Desloovere, in which she urged other producers to follow suit.
Aurore Cassanova is one of the producers who considered changing the neck foil for a paper strip as part of the rebranding of her cuvées.
She told Wine-Searcher: "After the Covid-19 crisis, there was a shortage of neck foils. When I enquired why the delays were so long, my supplier explained that the aluminum is extracted in China or Africa, and because of the lingering Covid-19 restrictions in China the extraction had halted, while civil wars in Africa had also impacted supplies. This made me think about the carbon footprint of the foil, which has no real use other than being part of the packaging. Thus when I heard that Emeline had changed to a paper strip, it seemed obvious that this would be the most ecological thing to do for us as well."
However, according to the CIVC, the carbon footprint of the neck foil is tiny compared to other elements of the packaging.
Pierre Naviaux, the CIVC's sustainability service manager, confirmed that at Champagne's last carbon footprint calculation (in 2018), the neck foils represented a mere 0.6 percent of the appellation's total carbon footprint. He refrained from translating this number in actual CO2 tonnage, but assured Wine-Searcher that the calculations included the extraction and transport of the raw materials and the manufacturing and transport of the finished neck foil on the bottle to its final destination.
Naviaux’s team also calculated the carbon footprint for neck foils in alternative materials and he noted that switching to a short paper neck foil could potentially reduce the neck foil carbon footprint by 93 percent.
Source: Wine-Searcher