Growers Champagnes are sparkling wines made by producers in the Champagne region who make their own wine from their own grapes.
The Champagne region is a large area of land planted with vineyards 150km North West of Paris. 34,300 hectares of beautiful slopes producing approximately 300 million bottles of sparkling wine every year. It represents 9% of total worldwide sales of sparkling wines but over 33% in value.
The region is made up of over 16000 growers, men and woman who own and work the land. There are over 4500 producers, making wines, of which 360 are classified as Champagne houses, the names of which you may well know: Moet et Chandon, Bollinger and Taittinger, for example, who rely on the growers to cultivate the grapes for them. These houses are what are called Negociant Manipulant, which means they can make Champagne by buying grapes from growers, (although many own vineyards themselves too) and they ship over 70% of what is sold. 2500 of these producers, however, are what are classified Recoltant Manipulant or Grower Champagne to you and I. These are men and woman who own their own vineyards and make wines from these amazing sites. Their wines usually have a more terroir specific, (soil), profile as they are commonly made from one or two villages, where the larger maisons have championed the art of blending over the centuries. The smaller growers are now focusing their attention on a more geographically specific account of what this beautiful region can bring. This focus on viticulture has been one of the driving forces for change in the region and is why Champagne is one of the leading lights for reducing pesticide and herbicide use in the vineyards.
Many of the newer kids on the block have gone one step further and moved to either Organic or biodynamic production. Although commonly well represented in the UK, the growers have started to see their volume of sales reduce as the pressure from the major market players increases. But we feel that tide is ripe for
changing. The last decade has seen the birth of a handful of truly groundbreaking grower producers with brilliant wines showcasing fabulously diverse terroir and vinification methods. And the beauty for you, the Champagne lover, is there are many more waiting in the wings for their moment to shine.
explore Grower Champagne
Here at Sip Champagnes, we remove the difficulty of finding them by visiting the region countless times a year, scouring the land for the best new producers who haven’t yet been discovered and delivering them direct to your door! The £100 Sip Champagne subscription is the perfect way to start your exploration of the region. Sign up for your Sip Plan today by clicking below!
