On the other hand, should Covid-19 be brought under control, then consumers will have a two reasons to drink Champagne: they will be celebrating Christmas and an end to the pandemic. Inside COGEVI’s Cité du Champagne Alliance Champagne: a potted history

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 One of Champagne’s biggest groups is breaking up, but is this a sign of wider problems in the sector or a case of excessive spending within one business? We look at the situation. COGEVI produce Champagne Collet 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 NVThey 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. So why have these senior figures left COGEVI? While this is speculation, it appears that COGEVI may have spent too much money, with db sources citing a number of major investments, with a couple of capital-intensive ones mentioned in particular. 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 However, it’s not that simple. While it is likely that COGEVI will continue to supply Alliance’s needs for its brands, should it choose not to do this, Alliance would lose access to some prime vineyards in the Montagne de Reims and the Côte de Blancs.

Furthermore, db has been led to believe that COGEVI managing director, Olivier Charriaud, has already left the organisation, along with the financial director. Jacquart & Associés Distribution (JAD) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alliance Champagne which was set up by the three remaining co-ops both to handle the distribution and marketing of the Jacquart brand, wine made under the Champagne Ritz licence and all the BoB production for COVAMA, COGEVI and Union Auboise. 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. Furthermore, it has been said that where necessary, Alliance will retain its grape supply contracts with COGEVI grower members. 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.Indeed, the change is really at the top – COGEVI directors will no longer be involved at board level at Alliance. So, in effect, the development means that COGEVI has moved from being an Alliance shareholder to becoming a preferred supplier. 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

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.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. These come under the acronyms COVAMA, COGEVI and UAPVC, and you can read about the history of the Alliance leviathan below, including the Champagnes produced by the group and its component cooperatives. About 100 years ago a group of wine-growers in Épernay launched a new Champagne brand in honour of French 1 st World War general, General Curières de Castelnau. Nowadays based in Reims and with a vineyard holding in the Champagne region of over 900ha, the wines of Champagne Castelnau are a long-lasting tribute. Aged on the lees for 7 years, this Extra Brut shows a lovely balance of freshness and maturity. Mid-gold in hue with small bubbles and a well-defined cordon, the nose shows ripe red and yellow plums and red apples with buttered toast and orange zest accents. Very dry in style, the wine has medium body, lively acidity and very good texture with layers of flavours and excellent length of flavour. A delight to consider drinking with rich seafood dishes, or roasted quail or pheasant in light red wine sauce. (Patricia Stefanowicz MW) Read more So, for Champagne producers, the dilemma comes with selling high-cost wines at a time of oversupply and low consumer confidence. As noted above, cooperatives, which are owned by their grower members, have a number of income streams, from supplying grapes and wine to other houses, to bottling Champagne for their grower-members, or making a finished product for selling under their own brand – in COGEVI’s case, Collet.

This champagne of character, true identity of the Maison Collet harmoniously combines the three grape varieties Champagne: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Earlier this month it was announced by cooperative group Alliance Champagne – which is one of Champagne’s biggest producers and landowners – that part of its three-pronged business was breaking away, taking with it around one third of the group’s combined vineyard holding and therefore potential grape supply. This means that COGEVI, due to the split, could lose a customer in Alliance Champagne at a time when it might be seeing sliding sales of wine and Champagne to other parties, such as supermarkets, as well as seeing a falling demand for grapes from the négociants.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. Furthermore, producers have a contractual obligation to buy grapes at a pre-agreed price, meaning that even during our current coronavirus-affected times, producers won’t be paying a reduced fee for their grape supply. (Any reported grape price reduction tends to represent just the small amount sold on the free market).