Collet Brut Champagne - 750ml

Product Information

These come under the acronyms COVAMA, COGEVI and UAPVC, and you can read about the history of the Alliance leviathan below, including the Champagnes produced by the group and its component cooperatives. An excellent wine from Lanson. Mid-gold colour. The nose is intense and complex, with raspberry, green apple and some biscuity notes. On the palate it is long and creamy, with bright fruit and subtle hints of more developed, savoury notes. It has a beautiful, slightly chalky texture, a powerful mousse, and a long, creamy, and beautifully integrated finish. Delicious! (Siobhan Turner MW) Champagne de Venoge, Cordon Bleu Brut NV

Indeed, COGEVI, as a newly independent entity, may choose to use its prime vineyards to expand its own branded Champagne production or supply Grandes Marques in need of high quality grapes.Mid-lemon colour, it has a complex nose of raspberries, golden delicious apples and William pears with marked blossom notes, brioche and marmite. The fruit notes are developed, but with some underlying fresh zesty lemon. On the palate the mousse is powerful yet elegant, and the finish off dry and slightly chalky. (Siobhan Turner MW) Lanson, Le Green Label Organic Furthermore, the primary sector of decline in Champagne has been among less well-known brands, including those closely tied to the declining French market, as well as those classified as supermarket own-label or exclusive brands, which, in the majority of cases, are supplied by the cooperatives. Earlier this month it was announced by cooperative group Alliance Champagne – which is one of Champagne’s biggest producers and landowners – that part of its three-pronged business was breaking away, taking with it around one third of the group’s combined vineyard holding and therefore potential grape supply.

Indeed, the change is really at the top – COGEVI directors will no longer be involved at board level at Alliance. So, in effect, the development means that COGEVI has moved from being an Alliance shareholder to becoming a preferred supplier. However, one insider has made it clear that the reason for the break up is connected with past over-spending, rather than any issue with incomes during the present downturn in Champagne consumption. So, for Champagne producers, the dilemma comes with selling high-cost wines at a time of oversupply and low consumer confidence. That’s because, until this year, prices have been increasing for grapes, (despite a volume decline in overall shipments), and, due to the Champagne ageing process, everything being sold now has been made from grapes bought at least two years ago.

About The Champagne Masters

They actually own an area of vineyard far greater than this, but their total crop is shared between three major destinations: local co-ops, contracts with the négociants and the CVC. The CVC in turn divides its volume of roughly 22m bottles between the Nicolas Feuillatte brand and Buyers’ Own Brand (BoB) business.

Since then the CVC has grown rapidly and it is now made up of 80 smaller co-ops, which between them have nearly 5,000 grower members who send to the Chouilly co-op for processing, the crop from the equivalent of 2,200ha of vineyard spread right across the appellation. This BoB business is significant and JAD has become a major supplier of own label Champagne to UK supermarkets including Tesco, ASDA and Sainsbury’s. Between them the three cooperative groups that promote the Jacquart brand have 1,700 grower members who own 2,620ha of vineyards which are spread across the appellation in 130 different villages including 10 grands crus and 22 premiers crus. This area of vineyard represents just over 8% of the entire Champagne AOC. Currently about 30% of this volume is sold and marketed by Alliance Champagne, the rest by the other three individual cooperatives that formed Alliance.

The Champagne Masters is a competition created and run by the drinks business, and is an extension of its successful Masters series for grape varieties, such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, as well as regions like Rioja and Tuscany. The competition is exclusively for Champagne, and the entries were judged using Schott Zwiesel Cru Classic glasses supplied by Sensible Wine Services. The top wines were awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze medals according to their result, and those expressions that stood out as being outstanding received the ultimate accolade – the title of Champagne Master. While such investments may have seem justifiable in a growth market for Champagne, the trajectory for Champagne in recent years has been a downward one, when looked at in terms of volume sales alone. As db has been assured, this separation will have no immediate effect on Alliance Champagne, which has, as its flagship brand, Jacquart, as well as a further label, Montaudon – which tends to be used for selling large volumes of fizz in the major multiple retailers. This means that COGEVI, due to the split, could lose a customer in Alliance Champagne at a time when it might be seeing sliding sales of wine and Champagne to other parties, such as supermarkets, as well as seeing a falling demand for grapes from the négociants. Furthermore, db has been led to believe that COGEVI managing director, Olivier Charriaud, has already left the organisation, along with the financial director.