Philippe & Pierre Aubry

These are the brother's Aubry---growers in Terry Theise's portfolio. They were not interested in me. (I got lost. Was late. Was jetlagged.) I think they were confused or amused by my visit. We tasted no wine and so I still don't know what their champagnes taste like. (They also supply Laurent-Perrier with grapes.).

The duo were pretty entertaining characters and freely said that Moet wasn't bad, 'moyen', (middle) was the word. And also Philippe pointed out that that one of Champagne's biggest mysteries was the seemingly never ending supply of Dom Perignon on the market. Yes, an industry magic trick.

After the idle gossip, I redirected the conversation to the region's (read: Moet's) desire to enlarge the region's vineyards. Pierre in particular became agitated. Philippe then joined in the swing of things by pounding the table chanting, "AOC. AOC." He likened the folly to extending Romanée Conti.

They are not alone in being suspicious. After all, Yves Benard the ex-head of the LVMH wine division is now the president of France's wine regulatory body, the INAO (Institut National des Appellations d'Origine). This looks like a great set up where strings could be pulled. At the very least, there could be a perceived conflict of interest in front.

Presently, there is no figure on how many acres over the current 84,000 in production can be added. The CIVC (Champers trade board) who is in charge, started its research three years ago. Grapes won’t hit the bottle for another ten. Daniel Lorson, the CIVC director of communications vowed that they are committed to land that only has the correct Champenoise terroir--chalk.

Not too long ago, when Champagne wasn’t so prosperous many AOC approved vineyards went out of production. These are the acres the region is trying to reclaim and rediscover for vines. This doesn’t sound harmful. In fact, it really sounds like a no-brainer. No?

That is, the reclaimed land is a no-brainer as long as the close relationship between M. Benard and Moet doesn't pollute the process. This way of adding land to an AOC is ground breaking; the first time in AOC history (and please correct me if I’m wrong, Lorson told me that I was correct) that new land for grapes will be approved based on research and technology rather than demonstrated excellence—such as when a lieux-dit (a named vineyard with no status) in Burgundy gets ‘promoted’ to 1er cru.

These acres will bring a windfall for many. Right now a hectare (2.4 acres )of plantable land goes for about 1.5 million dollars. And as Benoit Tarlant in Oeuilly, my next stop, said, “The fight between Champagne’s big brands for the grapes is going to be very interesting.”