Investing in Grower Champagne

Not all Champagne is the same and for those reading who do not know too much about the subject, we have many different styles / regions / makers. When we are lucky enough to be perusing the wine isle of the supermarket and names like Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot and Lanson are jumping out at us, we are merely only looking at the tip of the iceberg in what there is out there to enjoy.

Much of what is available on the high street and the bulk of sales internationally are the mass produced, non-vintage examples which are usually at relatively affordable price points and at times have special promotions attached to them. Nearly all of this Champagne is designed to be enjoyed sooner rather than later and will have little value in wine investment terms other than trading at high street prices and below.

Wine investment is usually aimed towards the more finer quality of Champagne, the rarer labels and those which are highly praised by a community of professional wine reviewers. These examples will likely have a global recognition of high standards and many with the ability to age well thus demand is high which fits in perfectly in the world of wine investment.

What is Grower Champagne? The Champagne growing region of France is some 34,000 hectares with thousands of vineyard owners, producers and labels. The subject is that extensive in variations that many books have been written to try and contain all the details in one registry – It is near on impossible. The style of Champagne we can choose from includes flavours from grapes / sugar levels / production methods and then we can select from winemaker / age / unique label (prestige / single vineyard etc).

We have the Grandes Marques which are the household names we are all familiar with that produce millions of bottles per year and likely own countless hectares of vineyards and also purchase in grapes from agreed contractual relationships from other vineyard owners so to meet their production demands. We also have the smaller producers, those less known and classed as artisanal with the term used for them being Grower Champagne.

“For many serious Champagne lovers the term ‘grower’ really excites them as it does myself! The opportunity to explore the wine region in more detail with greater expression of terroir comes about when we choose these smaller Champagne houses who are likely to be family producers owning a small handful of vineyards with a tiny annual production.” Christopher Walkey

The advantages of Investing in Grower Champagne: Especially within the Champagne loving fraternity, grower labels are popular and ranked alongside the finest cuvées from the Grandes Marques such as those from Krug and Cristal. The terroir-driven flavours that grower Champagne offer and the recent increased exposure this sector of the market has received in recent years, puts it well within the top league for wine investment.

Advantages:

Low Production Levels

Small though growing client interest

Lower price points

Focused on smaller terroir expressions

* The scarcity of grower Champagne in the global market makes it relatively hard to find — and thus, highly sought after (Bonhams)

Disadvantages:

Lesser known brand names compared to Grandes Marques

Less facts on investment success stories

Lower client interest on Grower over Grandes Marques

Harder to access / Infrequently listed with Wine Investment platforms

 

Not every grower Champagne label will be focused on producing wines for investors, many will focus on standard brut / rosé / extra brut so to facilitate in easier sales and maybe a prestige cuvée such as a vintage label will be available. As with all wines in all sectors, not every winery supplies high performing examples and certainly there will not be many examples of investible wines! Without the guidance and industry reports / track records that Grandes Marques have, we need to be more selective and careful when choosing to invest in Grower Champagne.

“The Champagne market is fizzing. Investment returns from buying the best French sparkling wine – if you resist the temptation to pop the cork – have beaten those from the stock market over the past decade.” source This Is Money

To invest in Grower Champagne it might pay you to keep your ear to the ground and investigate what is happening / being said within the wine industry: Sometimes a lesser known Champagne label can become trendy in the world of professional wine lovers, these are always great labels to explore for investment opportunities and especially if recently top wine experts have been scoring them highly. The damage to a wine label can be quite severe if top names in the industry, for instance Jancis Robinson or James Suckling, score them not so high on points and / or give a bad review as many people, including investment firms, will be swayed upon their thoughts. Has a tiny label won a big prize / award in the industry? Has it shone beyond the big guns? For instance, the grower Champagne house ‘Roger Brun’ won the World’s Finest Trophy back in 2019 at the London Champagne & Sparkling Wine Awards with their magnificent 2004 Réserve Familiale Grand Cru Extra Brut which is now out of stock and very much a Champagne collectors wine!

Grower Champagne labels will less likely be attracting a general audience in wine investment as would any of the household names, but nonetheless, they might hold a very loyal selective audience. The Champagne producer might be exporting a percentage of their production internationally where grower Champagnes are more favoured – There are more than 530 houses exporting to Japan of which more than 300 are growers, with prodigious demand for Jacques Selosse as well as the likes of Jérôme Prévost and Olivier Collin (source wine-business-international)

“You can recognise a Grower Champagne producer from the bottle which will contain the coding of RM (Récoltant-Manipulant)“

Lots of people invest in wines they know even up to knowing the winemaker / owners very well: They have not only a taste for the quality of the wine they favour and its aging potential, they know well the fan base it has and prices being paid for previous releases. This can be an excellent way to invest in Champagne as you are buying what you have researched and likely know your potential return on investment – Plus you enjoy drinking the wine you have purchased as a further security on your purchase.

Here your route to market will be a lot smaller and more than likely require added involvement from yourself, though there are many online channels that can facilitate your chances of selling your stock such as social media groups and dedicated wine auction websites where reserve prices can be set. Unlike investing in Grande Marques where there will likely always be buyers, you may have to be prepared to wait longer regarding sales.

Some grower Champagne labels will be in the media spotlight and for all the right reasons and these are some of the best areas to be looking at investing in and especially getting in early as the momentum builds. Look out for feature articles from top Champagne journalists speaking about ‘labels to look out for‘ and similar.

“While Grower Champagnes don’t always have the same household name recognition as the big Grand Marques, they are rapidly gaining attention from Champagne aficionados and collectors.” source wineinvestment

Summary: It is far easier to invest in Grandes Marques Champagne and there are plenty of ways to do so with very easy to use websites allowing you to purchase stock / shares within stock and manage storage as well as handling re-sales. Grower Champagne is far more a selective market with slightly more risks though has potential to reward greater profits.

 

All advice is that of my own opinion and from my own experience – You need to do your own research and accept that investments come with risks!