Telmont appoints new cellar master

Épernay-based Champagne Telmont, whose backers include Hollywood Oscar-winner and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, has promoted Brice Bezin to the role of cellar master and head of grape supply.

Bezin succeeds Bertrand Lhôpital, the fourth generation of the founding family who took over the then family-run champagne house from his father Serge in 1998. Lhôpital, who continued in his role as cellar master and head of viticulture when Rémy Cointreau group acquired a majority share of the maison in 2021, will continue as a shareholder of the Champagne house, the company confirmed.

Bezin joined Champagne Telmont as deputy cellar master in 2024, working alongside and being mentored by Lhôpital to prepare for the transition.

Lhôpital said that Bezin’s “precision, sensitivity, and respect for Telmont wines are the promise of a bright future for the Maison” and wished him the greatest success in his new role.

Although a native of Champagne, Bezin began his career in California’s prestigious Napa Valley, in 2015, working at Domaine Chandon in Yountville, Alpha Omega winery in Rutherford, a stint in Quebec making ice-wine, and then Chappelet Vineyard, according to his LinkedIn profile. It was there he witnessed both the first effects of climate change in a dry climate, and the pioneering response from the viticulturalists, in terms of organic farming, responsible water management, and sustainable viticulture.

Returning to France in 2017, he worked in the Minervois, before moving back to Champagne in 2018, working successively as an oenologist and then cellar master before joining Champagne Telmont.

Bezin said that that it was “a tremendous honour” to take on the mantle from Lhôpital role, saying he would be “dedicated to perpetuating the Maison’s unique style while continuing its environmental commitments.”

Ludovic du Plessis, president of Maison Telmont noted that the appointment represented “change in continuity”, noting that his expertise, passion for wines, and awareness of ecological issues “fit perfectly with our vision: that of a pioneering Champagne house, dedicated to quality and sustainability, from vine to glass.”

As well as being a “meticulous and determined oenologist”, Bezin embodies “a new generation of winemakers – deeply rooted in tradition yet determined to advance more sustainable and eco-conscious practices,” the company said.

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