Domaine Chanson confident Burgundy mood ‘is changing’
Reduced yields in recent years as a result of higher temperatures mean Burgundy has become “a little bit expensive”, according to Vincent Avenel, managing director of Domaine Chanson – but he remains confident that “the mood is changing”.
Speaking at a recent tasting, Avenel said the 2021 vintage had “created this big mess”. “When ’21 arrived, the worldwide demand for Burgundy was super-high, and unfortunately the production was super-low, and that’s when everything happened with the price increases, which went through the roof,” he explained. However, he is confident that prices are “coming back to reality”, citing figures from the end of April showing that sales volumes increased by 6%, with value up 20% for Burgundy, despite the impact that economic uncertainty, US tariffs and global conflicts are having on the fine wine market.
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Domestic sales in France, which a few years ago made up 50% of the business, have dropped to a 30% share thanks to the recent spike in Burgundy prices, but other markets are “perhaps less sensitive to this price increase”, Avenel said. Japan has become Domaine Chanson’s top market following a new contract with Suntory’s fine wine import arm last year, but Chanson is not seeing the same level of growth everywhere. The “nightmare” uncertainty of US tariffs is also causing problems. “If we don’t sell to the US, it will be painful because it represents 15%–20% of our business,” Avenel said. He believes US importers and consumers will be the ones to pay the ultimate price as “there are other markets and other countries we can sell to”.
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