In Champagne, a better approach to sustainability is bubbling up

It may be too soon to know what film will land the Palme d’Or prize at this month’s 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, but we do have advance knowledge of what will be in the winner’s glass. For the fourth year in a row, Telmont Réserve Brut is the official fizz of the annual cinema extravaganza in the south of France, which takes place from May 14 to 25. Telmont is a name that is still relatively unknown in less star-studded circles but that’s changing, and not just because it counts actor Leonardo DiCaprio as one of its investors.

Telmont’s profile is growing, in large part, thanks to its commitment to sustainability and transparency, an approach that’s starting to ripple through the broader sparkling wine industry. Through a QR code on every bottle, consumers can learn everything they ever wanted to know about Telmont’s blend of grapes, the conditions in which they were grown and the fermentation and dosage that goes into the vintage. That, along with work reducing its environmental impact and embracing organic agriculture, are a big part of what attracted the film festival and DiCaprio. “He spent two days with us in the vineyards and winery and he said, ‘You know, I want to be a part of it. I want to help build a sustainable wine company and I want to help you change agricultural practices,’” says Justin Meade, global marketing and business development director at Maison Telmont.

Meade stresses that while DiCaprio isn’t the “face of the brand,” his involvement helps get the word out and recruit a younger generation of farmers to join the “organic path,” which can be quite the uphill battle. Only 4 per cent of vineyards in the Champagne region are certified organic. By contrast, Burgundy boasts 10 per cent, albeit in a much warmer climate. “Champagne has some challenges that are endemic to such a marginal climate, where mildew and other diseases are a perennial threat,” says Treve Ring, a Vancouver wine judge and writer with a specialization in bubbles. “A lot of vineyards were decimated by mildew and rot this most recent vintage.”

Growers’ reluctance to give up pesticides is also rooted in Champagne’s history. After the Second World War, a shattered economy and a labour shortage meant there weren’t enough men left to farm. Pesticides, fungicides and herbicides made it possible to resurrect the industry and stage a spectacular postwar comeback. “It was called les Trente Glorieuses, or the 30 years of glory, because the chemicals meant that yields were growing over 250 per cent year over year, so they were able to save their industry,” Ring says. “Unfortunately, that meant that, by the 1970s, everything was an organized grid of vines and there wasn’t a single blade of grass anywhere.”

By then, there were a few houses adopting eco-friendly alternatives, including pioneering Leclerc Briant and, soon after, Champagne Fleury and Louis Roederer, the latter of which has 109 hectares of biodynamic vineyards. Ring says that, when relatively big houses model more sustainable methods, it can inspire smaller producers, all of whom understand the soil and biodiversity need help but can’t afford to risk an entire harvest.

Beyond the vineyard, half of the wine industry’s carbon impact is in shipping and packaging, which is why Telmont ships its box-free, lightweight bottles by wind-powered sailboats. “We banned the box,” Meade says. “No tin box, no paper box, no gift box and no exception anywhere in the world. The SAQ wanted boxes and we said no, they can’t have them.”

Since luxury wine and spirits rely heavily on duty-free and gifting, ditching the box can be a tough sell. So is lowering the weight of the bottle, which is believed to convey quality. Despite this, the Comité Champagne recently adopted a new standard bottle that weighs 835 grams, down from 900. Since there’s twice as much pressure in a champagne bottle than in a car tire, there’s only so lightweight a bottle can safely go but, in partnership with French glass manufacturer Verallia, Telmont managed to shave off another 35 grams – and made the design specs open source.

The Champagne region has a sustainability certification that goes beyond France’s national standard but there’s a perception that it has been slow to change. Striking a balance has been challenging, as demonstrated by last year’s news of undocumented labourers living and working in inhumane conditions during the 2023 harvest, which led to human trafficking investigations. Some 300,000 migrant workers arrive in Champagne every fall, a number that, in and of itself, is unsustainable. “With Champagne, because of its reputation, any errors are going to mean the entire brand is going to be put on the firing line,” says Tom Owtram, general manager of the UK-based Sustainable Wine Roundtable, which aims to educate everyone that contributes to a bottle’s journey from farm to gala table.

Earlier this year, Owtram met with the Comité Champagne and other stakeholders in the region. “I think there’s certainly more work that can be done in that space in Champagne,” he says. “But from what I took away from the visit, I would say that Champagne has actually got quite a good grip on sustainability as an agenda.” If more winemakers embrace the spirit of transparency, it’s possible that Champagne can become a model for an agricultural shift beyond the wine world. The region itself is a luxury brand and it is in every house’s interest to keep that reputation untarnished.

“Because it’s in the spotlight and there’s so much lore, I think there is a unique story that wine can leverage and also a unique experience which we can leverage,” Owtram says, highlighting how Champagne’s mystique differentiates it from other forms of farming. “[It’s] generally about people coming together to share a bottle and have a good time,” he says. “And you really can’t do that with cabbage.”

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