Maison Telmont becomes the first Champagne House to be Regenerative Organic Certified
Leonardo DiCaprio has hailed a new milestone for Champagne Telmont, which counts the Hollywood megastar as one of its four backers, after it became the first Champagne House to be awarded Regenerative Organic Certified® (ROC™) status.
DiCaprio, who came on board as an investor in Maison Telmont in 2022, two years after Rémy Cointreau became the majority shareholder, said that by pioneering sustainable winemaking practices, “Telmont is continuing to shape the future of the industry.”
“Becoming the first Champagne house to earn Regenerative Organic Certification® (ROC™) is a major achievement for Telmont and for Champagne as a whole,” he said.
President of Maison Telmont Ludovic du Plessis said the Bronze certification for its organic certified vineyards crowned “several years of dedicated effort by the Champagne House”, which has been pursuing the goal since it launched its ‘In the Name of Mother Nature’ project in 2021. The project aimed to convert 100% of Telmont’s estate to organic and regenerative agriculture by 2025, its partner vineyards by 2031, and to reach Net Zero by 2050.
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“By obtaining the certification ROC™, we are stating loud and clear our conviction: agriculture must be both organic AND regenerative. One cannot exist without the other!” he said.
The ROC certification scheme was launched in 2017 by the US-based Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA), an organization established by the Rodale Institute, a non-profit organization that supports research into organic farming, and its partners. In addition to complying fully with organic methods, which includes not using any herbicides, synthetic pesticides, synthetic fungicides and synthetic fertilizers, ROC demands companies achieve stringent criteria that supports biodiversity, soil regeneration and fair working conditions for agricultural workers.
As part of the certification process, Telmont was able to demonstrates its ecological practices on its certified estate which has seen it plant trees, collect rainwater, use cover crops, embrace biodiversity at the heart of the vineyard, and scientifically measure soil health. It also proved its commitments to social sustainability by ensuring fair, respectful and inclusive working conditions.
Maison Telmont argues that choosing organic and regenerative viticulture is a guarantee of producing wines “of the highest quality, wines with vibrant character, full of life”, pointing to its “manifesto-cuvée”, Réserve de la Terre, which “offers a most compelling proof: crafted exclusively from organic grapes, it expresses a terroir that is respected and nurtured without any artifices.”
