Crémant or Champagne

There’s no denying that the world of wine is undergoing a period of change – sales of low or non-alcoholic drinks are growing fast whilst sales of wine are at best stagnant and at worst in marked decline. Some say that this upheaval is only cyclical and simply a reflection of widespread and (one hopes, temporary) economic woes, yet others see a structural shift with little chance of things returning to the patterns of growth experienced over the past few decades.

Whatever the truth of the matter, one category of wine that is bucking the trend is sparkling wine - sales are booming.

The big winner is the world of sparkling wine is Prosecco, but sales of Cava are buoyant too and this is true for Crémant as well which brings us to the main topic of this article.

What is Crémant?

Crémant is the term applied to sparkling wines made in France outside the Champagne region which is a category apart. It’s interesting to note that the term Crémant was used in Champagne in the past when it referred to wines produced in Champagne that were deliberately made to have a reduced level of effervescence. In the 1970s the term was relinquished by the champenois and since then its use is reserved for the 9 other regions in France that produce sparkling wine using a method broadly similar to that used in Champagne.

Against this background it’s inevitable that Crémant is often compared to champagne.

Although it is generally accepted that champagne is of higher quality than Crémant, champagne is considerably more expensive, something that is largely due to the extremely high price of land in Champagne, and it is undoubtedly the lower price of Crémant that is main factor driving sales. A good quality bottle of Cremant can be found for around £12 in the UK retail market whilst the least expensive bottle of champagne will be around £30 (although lower promotional prices can be found in the largest retail chains). The relative positions will be applicable in other markets too.

Many consumers feel that there’s not much difference between champagne and Crémant (or Cava, or Prosecco for that matter). “After all, they’ve all got bubbles, haven’t they?” these consumers might say. These same customers might well wonder why champagne is so much more expensive.

On the other hand, consumers with a little more knowledge and curiosity might reply “That’s nonsense. It’s like saying that a Sauvignon Blanc from Chile is the same as a Puligny Montrachet from Bourgogne because they’re both white wines.” For these people the difference is price is obvious and fully justified.

A double-edged sword

The comparison with champagne poses something of a dilemma for makers of Crémant:

Do they settle for the idea that Crémant will always be seen as a cheaper version of champagne: a somewhat reductive position that would mean that they must rely on volume growth to grow profits, or do they strive to improve the quality of their wines and establish an image that is closer to that of champagne: a choice that may well put the brakes on the rapid growth in sales that we are currently seeing?

The debate is far from settled as we can see from the following comments which appeared in a recent article in The Drinks Business.

Some Crémant producers outrightly reject the label of simply being an affordable champagne.

“Crémant is not champagne” While there are indeed similarities between the two, the aim “is not to fight against Champagne”.

“We have our own grapes, exclusive terroir and unique climate, so we are different”

 “Being described as ‘affordable’ is a negative perception because it means you are cheaper. It is not a question of price, but a question of taste.”

 “We are in two completely different universes with the same method, but most of all we are complementary,” he says. “It depends on your taste and the moment.”

On the other hand, some producers take a different view

“The comparisons (between Crémant and champagne) were always numerous, but the quality has increased by a lot. Nowadays these comparisons are rather beneficial.”

Another maintains that “if you taste blind, you don’t feel the difference”, with good-quality Crémant aligning with medium-quality Champagne.

“The biggest challenge will be to show and prove that Crémant wines are of very good quality, that numerous Crémants are better than Champagnes and to make it acknowledged by the consumer’”

The jury is out

There are perils associated with both the strategies outlined above for Crémant: the one accepts a lower status than champagne, the other risks pushing prices too close to that of champagne and discouraging the very consumers who are driving the current growth of sales.

So, will Crémant ever rival or even surpass the success of champagne in terms of either sales volume or imagery?

That seems unlikely to me, although I’m biased given that I’ve spent large parts of my career in the world of champagne.

What do you think?

 p.s.

Many readers may be wondering why I write Crémant with a capital C and champagne with a small c

This is something of an anomaly, I admit, and it is definitely NOT because I regard champagne as being of lower status. It’s a throwback to the 20+ years I spent living in France when I learned that La Champagne refers to the region called Champagne and that Le champagne refers to the wine made in that region.

My way of distinguishing between the two is to use a capital C for the region and a small c for the wine.

It makes sense to me, but I can see that it raises some eyebrows.