Morgane Fleury on making champagne sustainable

I recently met with the delightful and charming Morgane Fleury in London. We spent half an hour or so discussing sustainable champagne. How you define it, how you make it, and how you can sell it at 22-25 Euros a bottle and still make a living. She and her family are biodynamic and sustainable pioneers in Champagne and the 20 minute podcast is packed with insight (from her, not me) Enjoy. She has a wine shop in Paris, too. That’s one for the list to visit.

The story of Fleury is a fascinating one, and the podcast is a good one. I tried to transcribe it, but that didn’t really work. You’ll hear why when you listen.

Perhaps the most significant thing she said, is that Champagne, as a region, will phase out herbicides by 2025. I’ve had a look for the source and it seems like it’s more of an objective right now. The same source also says the region should seek “certification” by 2030 (what does that mean?) and that:

“In recent months, everyone’s attention has been on the ongoing debate over the limits of the use of copper in the vineyard, which the European Commission has established at 4 kilos per hectare per year (and the possibility, however, of using the 28 kilograms provided for the next 7 years at will)”

Right, here’s the podcast. It’s only 20 minutes, and Morgane is well worth listening to. Enjoy.

Some other recent posts you might be interested in:

Climate models, data, short term forecasting and sustainability

Is radical transparency a step too far for the wine industry?

The story of sustainability, organics and bio-dynamics, at Chateau Palmer. CEO Interview.