Private Brand Champagne

Why is Cristal So Expensive - The Economics of Champagne

Jiles Halling

Why is Cristal so expensive?

At practically every champagne tasting some one asks me this question, or a variation:
 “Is Cristal really that good?” “ Am I getting value for my money if I  buy Cristal?”

If it’s not Cristal it’s the price of Dom Pérignon, or Krug that intrigues people.

Perhaps people want to know what each constituent element costs so as to arrive at the price in the shop or in the bar, but of course, it doesn’t work like that.

Rule No. 1 for companies that sell luxury goods is never to justify the price with logic; a ) it can’t be done and b) when you buy a luxury product you’re buying a dream, an emotion as much as the product  itself and that emotion is beyond value.

However, there’s another answer to the question which is much closer to the truth and that is that the most expensive champagnes cost what they do because they have to.

In order for you to understand what I mean by this I should explain a little about the economics of the champagne industry.

The area in which champagne may officially be produced is not only quite small, ( it covers about 35,000 hectares or  86,000 acres ), but it’s also rigidly controlled. Everything that happens within the champagne region is also tightly controlled - from the number of vines you can plant per hectare, to the weight of grapes that you are allowed to harvest from one hectare of vines, right through to amount of juice you may press from each kilo of grapes harvested

All this is done in a bid to maintain the reputation and high quality standards that are associated with champagne and you have to admit that, by and large, this has been achieved

It follows from all this regulation that the amount of champagne that can be produced each year is also limited; it’s just over 300 million bottles per year, in fact.

Although there are 35,000 hectares of vineyard, the area is split up into about 260,000 plots,
-many of them tiny- spread amongst some 20,000 different owners most of whose vineyards  have been in their family for generations.

Most of the large champagne houses also have their own vineyards, but none of them own enough to supply all the grapes they need to make the quantity of champagne they sell each year. From time to time vineyards are put up for sale, but this is an increasingly rare occurrence and it is certainly not possible to rely on buying more vineyards as a means of increasing the supply of grapes.

This consequence of this is that every champagne house has a choice to make. When sales reach the limit of what they can produce using grapes from their own vineyards, they can either choose to carry on increasing sales and buy the extra grapes they need on the open market ( from those who grow grapes but do not make champagne ), or they can decide to limit the number of bottles they sell and use only the grapes that they grow in their own vineyards.

Louis Roederer, which is the house that makes Cristal, has a policy of buying in no more than 30% of the grapes they need to make their champagne, or looked at the other way, they have decided to be self-sufficient in grapes for 70% of their needs.

Whilst this can be seen as an advantage because it gives control over the supply of grapes, it also means that  (unless you can buy more vineyards) it’s very difficult to increase the number of bottles you can produce and sell, so the only way to increase annual turnover is to increase the price of the bottles you do sell, but this can be easier said than done.

Most houses sell a ‘ flagship’ non-vintage brand – these sell in the UK for  between £25-£40 – but here the market is crowded and competition is tough so it’s hard to raise prices. This is the principle reason that houses also sell a Prestige Cuvée – the likes of Cristal and Dom Pérignon – that sell for £100 or a lot more, even though the cost of production is only a few euros more than for the less expensive ‘flagship’ brand. At these higher prices the competition is slightly less fierce and besides, there is a less clear perception on the part of the public of what the ‘correct’ price should be. Consumers base their decision to buy or not to buy on emotion just as much, if not more than, on logic.

It’s the generous profit on these prestige cuvées that keeps champagne houses afloat. There is money to be made in selling non-vintage champagne if you sell enough of it, but champagne houses usually re-invest a large part of the profit on non-vintage in advertising, marketing, distribution and all their other business activities, whilst a much greater proportion of the profit on the more expensive champagne goes straight into the bank.

So, from the commercial point of view, that’s why the price of Cristal and the others has to be at the level it is.

My advice, whatever champagne you are buying, is not to think too much about the price, but just to enjoy the experience.

Champagne Brands - How to Choose One From Another

Jiles Halling

Champagne brands – How to choose one from another

Isn’t champagne wonderful?  It truly does bring a sparkle to any party, and yet when it comes to choosing between one brand or another, most of us haven’t a clue where to start.  Here’s a quick- start guide on how you can begin to understand what makes all  champagne brands different which will help you discover all kinds of new possibilities.

When buying champagne we tend to do one of three things:
• Stick with the brand we tried and liked before.
• Opt  for a recommendation from a friend
• Buy what the waiter or barman suggests

If you always drink the same brand you will probably never be disappointed, but you might well be missing out on something new and different.

If you try what someone else suggests you may, or may not, be pleasantly surprised but don’t forget that we all have different tastes so a champagne brand that your friend thinks is the most wonderful thing they’ve ever tasted may just not be what you like.

Unfortunately when we take whatever is on the wine list we’re letting someone else make the choice for us. That’s how a lot of the big brands get to be so big. They’re available everywhere and so, if we as consumers don’t make a deliberate choice, they get to sell a heck of a  lot of bottles!

There is another way and all it takes is to learn a few of the basics about champagne. Here’s the first one – ask what grapes have been used in the champagne production.

Sounds obvious doesn’t it. After all, when we buy a bottle of wine we’d usually want to know which grape varietal was used, wouldn’t we?  It’s how we’ve come to buy our wine nowadays.

Well we can and should do the same with champagne.

Champagne is made from three grape varieties: Chardonnay, a white grape, and from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier – two black grapes. (Actually there are others but let’s keep it simple. If you know these three that will cover 99% of all champagne that is made.)

You may be wondering how you can make white champagne from black grapes, but don’t forget that when the grape is pressed, the juice is always colourless, even if the grape skin is black.

As  wine lovers, we know that different grape varieties have different characteristics and produce wine with different tastes and flavours; and champagne is no exception.

A champagne maker can blend the juice from the three grapes in whatever proportions he/she wants just so long as they get the final taste they are looking for. So we can see that  the possible combinations are virtually infinite and it’s this blending of the three different grape varieties that is one of the key things that makes one champagne brand different from the next one.

Chardonnay brings flavours and aromas that are often described  as like citrus fruit. When wine gurus talk of elegance, freshness and finesse, they are usually talking about Chardonnay. We could compare the flavours to music and say that  Chardonnay provides the ' Treble' notes.

So, chardonnay-based champagnes  tend to be light, refreshing, clean and often quite dry. They are great as an aperitif and with delicate food such as sushi and shellfish.

Pinot Noir on the other hand brings fullness, power and body to the champagne. Typical aromas associated with Pinot Noir are red fruits such as strawberries and blackcurrants.

Champagnes with a high proportion of Pinot Noir are a good match with fairly full-flavoured, gutsy  food. If we use the same musical analogy as above, Pinot Noir provides the ' Bass ' notes in the composition.

The third grape variety allowed in the production of champagne is Pinot Meunier and whilst the other two are well-known outside the Champagne region, Pinot Meunier is peculiar to champagne.

Used in a champagne Pinot Meunier can bring intense fruitiness with aromas of white-fleshed fruit such as apples or pears. It’s easy to drink and difficult to dislike.

So before you buy your next bottle of champagne ask the retailer, or waiter, which grapes  have been used, and that will give you a good idea of the style. If you really want to impress then ask to know what the ‘assemblage‘ is ( pronounced assomblarge). That’s the French word for blend.

If you’re thinking that this is not a fool-proof method, then you’re right. This is a generalisation and the whole story is much more complicated, but I hope it’s a useful start for you.  Plus you don’t have to be a champagne expert to use this tip.

Whatever you choose, enjoy!

Champagne Brands - How to Choose One From Another

Jiles Halling

Champagne brands – How to choose one from another

Isn’t champagne wonderful?  It truly does bring a sparkle to any party, and yet when it comes to choosing between one brand or another, most of us haven’t a clue where to start.  Here’s a quick- start guide on how you can begin to understand what makes all  champagne brands different which will help you discover all kinds of new possibilities.

When buying champagne we tend to do one of three things:
• Stick with the brand we tried and liked before.
• Opt  for a recommendation from a friend
• Buy what the waiter or barman suggests

If you always drink the same brand you will probably never be disappointed, but you might well be missing out on something new and different.

If you try what someone else suggests you may, or may not, be pleasantly surprised but don’t forget that we all have different tastes so a champagne brand that your friend thinks is the most wonderful thing they’ve ever tasted may just not be what you like.

Unfortunately when we take whatever is on the wine list we’re letting someone else make the choice for us. That’s how a lot of the big brands get to be so big. They’re available everywhere and so, if we as consumers don’t make a deliberate choice, they get to sell a heck of a  lot of bottles!

There is another way and all it takes is to learn a few of the basics about champagne. Here’s the first one – ask what grapes have been used in the champagne production.

Sounds obvious doesn’t it. After all, when we buy a bottle of wine we’d usually want to know which grape varietal was used, wouldn’t we?  It’s how we’ve come to buy our wine nowadays.

Well we can and should do the same with champagne.

Champagne is made from three grape varieties: Chardonnay, a white grape, and from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier – two black grapes. (Actually there are others but let’s keep it simple. If you know these three that will cover 99% of all champagne that is made.)

You may be wondering how you can make white champagne from black grapes, but don’t forget that when the grape is pressed, the juice is always colourless, even if the grape skin is black.

As  wine lovers, we know that different grape varieties have different characteristics and produce wine with different tastes and flavours; and champagne is no exception.

A champagne maker can blend the juice from the three grapes in whatever proportions he/she wants just so long as they get the final taste they are looking for. So we can see that  the possible combinations are virtually infinite and it’s this blending of the three different grape varieties that is one of the key things that makes one champagne brand different from the next one.

Chardonnay brings flavours and aromas that are often described  as like citrus fruit. When wine gurus talk of elegance, freshness and finesse, they are usually talking about Chardonnay. We could compare the flavours to music and say that  Chardonnay provides the ' Treble' notes.

So, chardonnay-based champagnes  tend to be light, refreshing, clean and often quite dry. They are great as an aperitif and with delicate food such as sushi and shellfish.

Pinot Noir on the other hand brings fullness, power and body to the champagne. Typical aromas associated with Pinot Noir are red fruits such as strawberries and blackcurrants.

Champagnes with a high proportion of Pinot Noir are a good match with fairly full-flavoured, gutsy  food. If we use the same musical analogy as above, Pinot Noir provides the ' Bass ' notes in the composition.

The third grape variety allowed in the production of champagne is Pinot Meunier and whilst the other two are well-known outside the Champagne region, Pinot Meunier is peculiar to champagne.

Used in a champagne Pinot Meunier can bring intense fruitiness with aromas of white-fleshed fruit such as apples or pears. It’s easy to drink and difficult to dislike.

So before you buy your next bottle of champagne ask the retailer, or waiter, which grapes  have been used, and that will give you a good idea of the style. If you really want to impress then ask to know what the ‘assemblage‘ is ( pronounced assomblarge). That’s the French word for blend.

If you’re thinking that this is not a fool-proof method, then you’re right. This is a generalisation and the whole story is much more complicated, but I hope it’s a useful start for you.  Plus you don’t have to be a champagne expert to use this tip.

Whatever you choose, enjoy!

Champagne and Food

Jiles Halling

Champagne and Food

A few years ago people used to think that you drank white wine with fish and red wine with meat and that was it. Full stop, period, end of discussion.

 Since then a lot has changed and these days just about anything goes, but despite this it’s still very uncommon for people to consider serving champagne with a meal. Champagne is still considered a drink for celebrations, toasts and for drinking before a meal as an aperitif, but if you never try champagne with food you’re missing out on a great experience.

For one thing, serving champagne with each course makes for a fabulous meal that your guests may never have experienced and will remember for a long time to come, so give it a try, at least once.

Second,  Champagne is such as diverse region that it deserves to be thought of in the same way as any other wine region. Within the broad category there’s a whole host of different makers and different styles so you can find one to suit most types of food.

With a light, white fish dish such as sushi, a Blanc de Blancs champagne, made with Chardonnay grapes only, will have a fresh, zingy flavour to it that will be in balance with the delicate flavours of the food.

Blanc de Noirs champagnes made only with black grapes, and many Vintage champagnes, have more body and depth so they stand up well to stronger flavoured dishes: poultry, veal, pork, risotto and mushrooms to name but a few.

If you love a good steak then I admit that it’s hard to find a champagne to go with it and a full red wine will be a better choice, but don’t rule out champagne with meat altogether.

The gorgeous red fruit flavours and aromas in some rosé champagnes, particularly vintage rosé or non-vintage with a high proportion of black grapes in the blend, will go very happily with much richer, more flavourful dishes such as roast duck and pigeon which you could serve with something such as roasted figs to accentuate the rich fruitiness.

If you’re feeling a little more adventurous try a sweeter demi-sec champagne. You can probably imagine that it is absolutely gorgeous with sweet desserts – try demi-sec with crêpes suzette covered with caramelised oranges for example. You may be surprised to know that demi-sec champagne is fabulous with soft blue cheese as well; the luscious textures complement each other perfectly. Sweet champagne also goes well with international foods such as guacamole and with many thai dishes.

In general terms, when you’re trying to match food and wine, any wine, it’s much too simplistic just to consider the type of meat or type of fish because the way you cook a dish and the seasonings and accompaniments you use will have a much greater influence on the result. For example, a fish grilled, or barbequed, until it’s golden and crispy on the outside, doesn’t have the same texture, or flavour, as the same fish poached in a broth, so different wines will be needed.

The important thing is to experiment with your wine and whilst you’re at it, be sure to include some champagne – if you do you’re in for a real treat.