This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
de Billy: NV Champagne should be aged for longer
Non-vintage Champagne should be aged for longer before it reaches the market in order to ensure quality, according to Hubert de Billy of Pol Roger.
Hubert de Billy of Pol Roger poses with a bust of Sir Winston Churchill. Photo credit: Colin Hampden-White
Speaking to the drinks business during a trip to maison Pol Roger last week, de Billy, the great-great-grandson of the founder of Pol Roger, said he wished other houses would age their Champagnes for longer than the 15-month minimum ageing period required.
“90% of Champagne is sold after less than two years of ageing. The co-ops and small growers are having difficulties at the moment, but we need to make sure that the Champagne appellation continues to grow in quality.
“It’s actually quite hard to make bad Champagne nowadays, but some of the Champagnes being made today are not at the quality level that people should have in their glass. People should be ageing their non-vintage wines for longer to increase quality.”
Pol Roger Brut Reserve is aged for a minimum of four-and-a-half years, making it the oldest non-vintage Champagne on the market according to de Billy.
“I always like to say that we’re not a producer of Champagne but a producer of wine from Champagne. I don’t want the wines to be too heavy but I also don’t want them to give you a hole in your stomach from the acidity,” he told db.
“Gerard Basset MS MW describes Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill as Burgundy with bubbles, which is big compliment and that’s exactly what we’re going for. We want the complexity of wine but the lightness of touch that comes with the bubbles,” he added.
As for increased competition from the likes of Prosecco, Franciacorta and English sparkling wine, de Billy admitted that the Champenois have to take stock of the situation.
“English sparkling wine is still too small to be a true competitor but when we see that Prosecco sales are up by 20% and Champagne sales are down by 6%, then we have to take notice,” he said.
China remains largely unchartered territory for Champagne but is a market de Billy believes could be hugely profitable in the future.
“I think the appetite for Champagne will catch on in China and the demand will fuel itself and it will grow to be as popular as it is in Japan,” he said.