Collet Brut Champagne - 750ml

Product Information

Established in 1837 in Épernay by Henri-Marc de Venoge, emigrating from his native Swiss canton Vaud, the maison adopted its emblem ‘Cordon Bleu’ in homage to the little Venoge river in Switzerland, which empties into Lake Geneva. This is a stylish wine, exhibiting a pale lemon colour and a narrow cordon with crunchy yellow and red fruits and buttered toast accents. Brut (c.6 g/l dosage), medium-bodied, the wine has bracing acidity and creamy mousse texture to support the flavours. A lingering finish suggests a poly-valent wine, suitable for the Henley Regatta or Wimbledon events with, or without, strawberries and cream, and will be equally delicious with salmon mousse napped with cucumber-cream sauce. (Patricia Stefanowicz MW) Champagne Castelnau, Extra Brut NV As for the part of this group that’s leaving the mothership, that’s the Coopérative Générale des Vignerons de la Champagne Délimitée (COGEVI), which, like most cooperatives, sells grapes, wines and bottled Champagne, as well as producing its own brand, which in this case, is called Champagne Collet. While such investments may have seem justifiable in a growth market for Champagne, the trajectory for Champagne in recent years has been a downward one, when looked at in terms of volume sales alone. With the heads of the group apparently deciding not to provide such assistance, it appears that COGEVI has had to withdraw from Alliance, a split that was agreed to by the parent group on 10 September, and finalised earlier this week, marking the end of a 23-year union.

Meanwhile, the unbranded sector of Champagne, often supplied by cooperatives, is declining in terms of sales and profitability, which may mean that another source of COGEVI business is in decline. Since then the CVC has grown rapidly and it is now made up of 80 smaller co-ops, which between them have nearly 5,000 grower members who send to the Chouilly co-op for processing, the crop from the equivalent of 2,200ha of vineyard spread right across the appellation.They actually own an area of vineyard far greater than this, but their total crop is shared between three major destinations: local co-ops, contracts with the négociants and the CVC. The CVC in turn divides its volume of roughly 22m bottles between the Nicolas Feuillatte brand and Buyers’ Own Brand (BoB) business.

Mid-lemon colour with a hint of gold. Clean and fresh on the nose with biscuity notes and bright fruit with some more developed notes. On the palate it is dry with high acid, medium body and lively lemony fruit. Noticeable oxidative notes on the finish suggest it should be drunk within the next 12 months, which will be an enjoyable task. (Siobhan Turner MW) Vieille France, Brut But there’s a bigger problem for Champagne makers, whether they are growers who bottle under their own label, cooperatives who make their own brands, or houses who buy grapes to produce globally distributed marques. The Champagne Masters is a competition created and run by the drinks business, and is an extension of its successful Masters series for grape varieties, such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, as well as regions like Rioja and Tuscany. The competition is exclusively for Champagne, and the entries were judged using Schott Zwiesel Cru Classic glasses supplied by Sensible Wine Services. The top wines were awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze medals according to their result, and those expressions that stood out as being outstanding received the ultimate accolade – the title of Champagne Master. What about the situation when viewed from Alliance’s perspective? Well, while COGEVI’s withdrawal represents a potential loss of 30% of the Alliance supply base, as it has been said to db, if Champagne volume sales are down by 20% in 2020, then the amount needed to make up for COGEVI’s departure is not so great at just 10% in volume terms. This BoB business is significant and JAD has become a major supplier of own label Champagne to UK supermarkets including Tesco, ASDA and Sainsbury’s. Between them the three cooperative groups that promote the Jacquart brand have 1,700 grower members who own 2,620ha of vineyards which are spread across the appellation in 130 different villages including 10 grands crus and 22 premiers crus. This area of vineyard represents just over 8% of the entire Champagne AOC. Currently about 30% of this volume is sold and marketed by Alliance Champagne, the rest by the other three individual cooperatives that formed Alliance.

Champagne Barons de Rothschild, Concordia Brut

After all, as much as 60% of Champagne’s annual business is done in the last three months of the year. To explain further, Alliance Champagne comprises a triumvirate of cooperatives across the region, uniting over 1,700 grower members representing more than 2,500 hectares of vineyards, producing 25 million bottles of Champagne annually. Mid-lemon colour, it has a complex nose of raspberries, golden delicious apples and William pears with marked blossom notes, brioche and marmite. The fruit notes are developed, but with some underlying fresh zesty lemon. On the palate the mousse is powerful yet elegant, and the finish off dry and slightly chalky. (Siobhan Turner MW) Lanson, Le Green Label Organic These are the construction of a new, large production centre in Oger and an impressive wine museum in Aÿ, called ‘La Cité du Champagne’, which are in addition to what is reputed to have been extensive spending on marketing its Collet brand, which totals around 500,000 bottles in annual sales, less than 10% of the cooperative’s 6m bottle output. Together, Jacquart and Montaudon account for around 5m bottles in annual sales for Alliance, or one fifth of the group’s output – it produces 25m bottles each year.

So, for Champagne producers, the dilemma comes with selling high-cost wines at a time of oversupply and low consumer confidence. However, one insider has made it clear that the reason for the break up is connected with past over-spending, rather than any issue with incomes during the present downturn in Champagne consumption. That’s because, until this year, prices have been increasing for grapes, (despite a volume decline in overall shipments), and, due to the Champagne ageing process, everything being sold now has been made from grapes bought at least two years ago.

Champagne Castelnau, Extra Brut NV

An excellent wine from Lanson. Mid-gold colour. The nose is intense and complex, with raspberry, green apple and some biscuity notes. On the palate it is long and creamy, with bright fruit and subtle hints of more developed, savoury notes. It has a beautiful, slightly chalky texture, a powerful mousse, and a long, creamy, and beautifully integrated finish. Delicious! (Siobhan Turner MW) Champagne de Venoge, Cordon Bleu Brut NV