Champagne and Sparkling Wine

Still getting to the bottom of the Contrôle des Structures.  Thanks to Tom Stevenson for weighing in on the subject:

"I think I wrote about the Contrôle des Structures in 2003 (and later mentioned in in Wine Report 2005) and the restriction has since risen from 15 to 18 hectares. This law is very complicated and has many variables that can affect the 18 hectares (please see attached, it’s from Languedoc-Roussillon, but it’s the same law), but it essentially applies to newly acquired (purchased, leased or rented) vineyards and is not restricted to Champagne. However, although it applicable all over France, its restrictions are enforced to different degrees in different regions and none more so than in Champagne (i.e., the same restrictions apply everywhere, but some regions are more strict in applying them than others, and Champagne is amongst the strictest in this respect).

Krug is perhaps not the best house to speak to on this subject, as the Contrôle des Structures was not introduced until 1962 and its effect was not immediate. At that time Krug had 5-6 hectares in Villedommange and now has only 19 hectares, so even though it has sold off some of the vineyards it acquired, it has never come close to the restriction in hectares (although they have to be included in LVMH’s application, now it has itself been taken over – see CDS Application attached). Any house farming an existing vineyard historically when the law was introduced will be exempt from these regulations, either because the law did not exist, or they were granted exceptions (although they may have to apply for permission on an annual basis for bureaucratic reason). The heart of all the largest estates were put together in the 19th century (e.g. Moët, Veuve Clicquot, Pommery etc) or acquired in the Great Depression of the 1930s (e.g., Lanson). Takeovers like that of Mercier by Moët happened in the early-1960's when corporate acquisitions were not encompassed by Contrôle des Structures. This still remains

Still getting to the bottom of the Contrôle des Structures.  Thanks to Tom Stevenson for weighing in on the subject:

"I think I wrote about the Contrôle des Structures in 2003 (and later mentioned in in Wine Report 2005) and the restriction has since risen from 15 to 18 hectares. This law is very complicated and has many variables that can affect the 18 hectares (please see attached, it’s from Languedoc-Roussillon, but it’s the same law), but it essentially applies to newly acquired (purchased, leased or rented) vineyards and is not restricted to Champagne. However, although it applicable all over France, its restrictions are enforced to different degrees in different regions and none more so than in Champagne (i.e., the same restrictions apply everywhere, but some regions are more strict in applying them than others, and Champagne is amongst the strictest in this respect).

Krug is perhaps not the best house to speak to on this subject, as the Contrôle des Structures was not introduced until 1962 and its effect was not immediate. At that time Krug had 5-6 hectares in Villedommange and now has only 19 hectares, so even though it has sold off some of the vineyards it acquired, it has never come close to the restriction in hectares (although they have to be included in LVMH’s application, now it has itself been taken over – see CDS Application attached). Any house farming an existing vineyard historically when the law was introduced will be exempt from these regulations, either because the law did not exist, or they were granted exceptions (although they may have to apply for permission on an annual basis for bureaucratic reason). The heart of all the largest estates were put together in the 19th century (e.g. Moët, Veuve Clicquot, Pommery etc) or acquired in the Great Depression of the 1930s (e.g., Lanson). Takeovers like that of Mercier by Moët happened in the early-1960's when corporate acquisitions were not encompassed by Contrôle des Structures. This still remains