Corona Daily 360: Champagne but No Sparkle

Champagne, an extravagant drink of pre-revolutionary France, and a premium luxury brand in the modern world is capable of satisfying all human senses. Champagne exclusively comes from the French region by the same name; it is illegal to call another sparkling wine Champagne. Not every photocopier is Xerox, and not every wine that sparkles is Champagne. The grapes, vineyard practices, grape-pressing methods and fermentation define its authenticity. The grapes are mainly Pinot noir (red), Pinot meunier (black) and Chardonnay (green). Champagne sets the standard with its capacity for elegance, grace, subtlety and depth. Historically, the drink was associated with royalty and nobility.

Next week, on Tues. 18 August, a crisis meeting will take place in Champagne to decide how to save the premium drink.

2019 was an excellent year; Champagne sales worldwide were $6 billion, an all time record. The 2o20 weather was perfect for the grapes, plenty of sunshine, rains at the right time in right quantities. Winegrowers were delighted. This year would produce huge quantities of outstanding Champagne.

With the arrival of coronavirus, all celebrations stopped. No weddings, no corporate events, no formula one drivers spraying Champagne, no airport lounges, no business banquets. True, in the lockdown, more people drank, and people drank more. UK wine sales grew by 40%, USA by 53%. But not Champagne. Its sales went down by 70%, because nobody was celebrating anything anymore. Champagne sales fell by $2 billion, one third of the usual sales. Statistics darker than during the great depression or either World War.

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Just like the output of oil is pre-agreed to control prices, winemaking houses such as Bollinger and Krug (buyers) and vine-growers (sellers) agree every year to a fixed yield. It is expressed in tons per hectare. Nearly one hundred Champagne houses on one hand, and 19,000 smaller vignerons (grape growers) negotiate a figure and abide by it. Both sides have unions, with the Champagne houses generally having a better bargaining position.

The parties met last on 22 July. Sales are so bad, it is certain that those houses will end up having at least 100 million bottles unsold by the end of the year. They want the growers to produce not more than 7 tons per hectare. (200 million bottles). The union of growers can produce up to 16 tons, the crop is so good. 8.5 tons per acre is their minimum (250 million bottles) demand. For reference, in 2019, the agreed figure was 10.2 tons/ha (300 million bottles).

What can be done with so much Champagne when nobody is buying it? The houses have suggested that the extra grapes are used to make hand sanitizer. After all, it contains alcohol. The wine growers are incensed at the suggestion. Send the great Champaign grapes to make hand sanitizer? The alternative is to let the grapes rot. That July meeting ended in a stalemate.

August is the picking season. Usually, temporary East European migrant workers are contracted for harvesting. This year, many of them can’t come to France. That is one problem to tackle. And the other is to agree to the sanitizer making proposal, or let the excess crop, however great, rot. The war meeting on 18 August must come up with a solution.

With the onset of the pandemic, the noble Champagne has lost its sparkle. Connoisseurs will rue the bursting of this bubble.  

Ravi