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Twelve Grower Champagnes join Jeroboams portfolio

This represents a considerable expansion of its Champagne offering, in a move intended to introduce customers to a broader range of sparkling styles and expressions.

Those joining the Jeroboams portfolio (alongside its long-term exclusive producer Georges Vesselle) include Paul Clouet, Daniel Moreau – which works with spontaneous fermentation, Fumey-Tassin – which revives the rare Pinot Blanc Vrai, Domain Lagille – which is converting to organic farming, Bérêche et Fils – which cultivates old vines, and Thierry Fournie – which has implemented oak ageing.

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Grower Champagnes are different to the more famous Grandes Marques – they are smaller estates who own the vineyards where the grapes are grown. This means that they often have a deep knowledge of their land.

According to Jeroboams, “the champagne narrative is shifting”. Prestige cuvées and Grandes Marques still dominate, but consumers highly value authenticity, which is easy to find in small, family-run producers such as these, where typically, the brand identity centres around the vigneron themselves.

Peter Mitchell MW, wine director at Jeroboams, commented: “This new range perfectly embodies what Jeroboams stands for, Champagnes crafted by family-owned domaines with a strong sense of place and provenance.

“If the top wines of the Grandes Marques are perfectly polished, pristine and generally hard to fault, the best Grower Champagnes are packed with character and personality. The new power move at a dinner party is to present a Grower Champagne that you’re unlikely to find elsewhere.”

Grower Champagnes are currently mostly limited to the French market – large volume and Grande Marque Champagnes dominate the export market, accounting for nearly 90% of international sales, while only 13% of growers’ wines reach the international market.

However, more and more growers are electing to make their own wines – instead of selling grapes to larger houses – allowing a much greater availability of such Champagne.

Jeroboams’ portfolio expansion is designed to make these wines much more accessible to the UK market, and to allow consumers to “celebrate the diversity of Champagne”.

• Champagne
• Jeroboams
• peter mitchell
• grower champagnes
• Grandes Marques
• Georges Vesselle