Why are Americans missing out on so much amazing grower champagne?
The tasting room at Michel Fagot. Photo credit: Andrew Triska.
A couple of weeks ago, my spouse and I found ourselves in the small village of Cumières in the tasting room of Veuve Maitre-Geoffroy, a small Champagne récoltant-manipulant, or grower-producer, founded in 1878. Sampling two of their offerings after a tour of the production facilities—first an austere, biscuity, bone-dry blanc de blancs, and then a fruity, spicy, expressive blanc de noirs—it was disappointing to find out that it wasn’t available to purchase outside of France, though they offer shipping. My checked bag obviously went home stuffed with wine, but who knows when we’ll be back?
The same was true a short drive away at Michel Fagot in Rilly-la-Montagne. I won’t be tasting the savory finish, creamy butterscotch, and baking spice of the 2008 vintage, or the generous, bright strawberry of their NV rosé, anytime soon. (Until I open the bottles I brought home, obvi.)
The village of Hautvillers. Photo credit: Andrew Triska.
Sadly, this is the case with most grower Champagne. Of the 34 million bottles of Champagne imported into the U.S. in 2021, only 5 to 10% of it was grower Champagne. Cooperatives and growers combined make up only 13% of Champagne export revenues, with the rest going to the large Champagne houses that buy the bulk of the grapes in the region.
Grower Champagne is slowly getting a bigger share of the market thanks to consumer awareness and demand. However, it still only makes up a small slice of sparkling wine consumption, both globally and in the United States.
Why aren’t Americans drinking more grower Champagne?
Wine storage at Veuve Maitre-Geoffroy. Photo credit: Andrew Triska.
To start with, there’s…just not a lot of it to go around. Of roughly 16,000 winegrowers in Champagne, only about a third make their own wines. Much of it gets consumed domestically in France. As of 2019, of the 3,394 growers who made their own wine, only 1,336 exported their wine, and only 794 of these producers exported it outside of Europe.
The rest find it more economical to sell their grapes to large Champagne houses, like Moët & Chandon, Dom Pérignon, and Veuve Clicquot. Adding winemaking facilities to an estate is a big undertaking, and a lot of small producers either don’t produce enough grapes to make it profitable, or don’t want to sink a ton of cash into a new venture in an uncertain market.
The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims. Photo credit: Andrew Triska.
Plus, establishing a brand identity is tough for any wine producer, and grower-producers whose wines are imported into the U.S. have to compete with the brand awareness and marketing muscle of the big boys. It’s hard enough to get the average American to differentiate between Champagne and other types of sparkling wine—hence that Orson Welles commercial that will never stop being funny to me—so you can imagine how difficult it might be to stand out as a small producer on a shelf full of better-known competitors.
There’s more demand for than there used to be thanks to the combined effect of grower-boosting importers, retailers, sommeliers, and wine journalists, but even at specialty shops, you’ll still see the two or three bottles of grower Champagne on the shelves crowded out by sleek, familiar brands. As with most wine categories, Americans are more likely to pick Champagne from brands they already know they like.
Is grower Champagne better?
The production facilities at Veuve Maitre-Geoffroy. Photo credit: Andrew Triska.
“Better” is probably not the best lens through which to look at grower Champagne. As with Champagne from major houses, grower Champagne has a range of quality levels, from breathtaking to meh. Instead, think about diversity and innovation.
While you’ll get a more consistent product if you stick to the large Champagne houses, you’ll find more variation and experimentation with smaller producers. In essence, you’re trading off predictability for a better sense of a particular site’s terroir and a single winemaker’s vision.
Where do I buy grower Champagne in the U.S.?
First, learn how to spot it. Grower Champagne is labeled with the initials “RM,” which stands for the above-mentioned designation récoltant-manipulant. You may also see “CM” for coopérative-manipulant, which is wine made by groups of small growers who combine their grapes and vinify them together.
If you have a local specialty wine shop near you, that should be your first stop. Big-box liquor stores and bottle shops with plexiglass in front of the cash register aren’t usually the place to find the good stuff, nor are you likely to find staff knowledgeable enough to make recommendations.
If you’re here in New York, my favorite shop—Flatiron Wines on Broadway and 18th, just down the street from my office—has tons of grower Champagne and ships throughout the state. If you don’t live in a large city with plenty of shops to choose from, online stores like Premier Champagne will ship it to your door.
Or take the more adventurous route and ask your local wine shop to stock grower Champagne. Order it when you see it on a restaurant menu and tell your friends when you find a particularly good one. You’ll be giving the little guys a leg up, and you’ll be making it incrementally more likely that you’ll see more of it making its way to America in the years to come.
(A final shout-out to Sparkling Tour Reims for making our grower Champagne tour happen. Our guide was terrific, and it’s a great alternative to some of the large Champagne house-focused tours out there.)
