Farming for the Next Generation w/ Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, Champagne Roederer & Xavier Barlier, MMD

As a 7th generation family-owned and run company, being sustainable means building towards the future for the next generations. That’s the philosophy that has led Champagne Louis Roederer to move towards organic farming with biodynamic and permaculture principles since 2000. With 100% of its historic estate (50% of total vineyard holdings) certified organic, this process has had a significant impact on the quality of the fruit and wines as well as the bottom line. Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon, EVP and Chef du Cave at Champagne Louis Roederer and Xavier Barlier, SVP of Marketing and Communications of Maison Marques & Domaines USA (Roederer’s import arm), tell us about this transition, strategy, and its market positioning. Don’t forget to support the show on Patreon!Detailed Show Notes: Beginning in 2000, started moving farming towards organic, including some biodynamic and permaculture philosophiesOrganic is just stopping the use of herbicides and pesticides, but that’s itBiodynamic practices for JBL are less about Rudolph Steiner’s philosophy but more about paying attention to the land and ecosystem, aligned more with the permaculture movementAbout adding life back into the soil and building fertility, which comes with decreased use of copper and sulfur that are used in organic farmingWe can do this at Roederer because it’s a family-owned business with 7 generations, building for the next generation and the futureRoederer does its own massale selection, own rootstocks, and compostImpact on growersImpacts more the future generation of growers, need to educate themRoederer single-vineyard ferments everything and tastes the growers on their own vineyardsAssigned a Roederer enologist dedicated to grower relationsOrganic trends in Champagne20 years ago - <1%10 years ago - 2.5%Last year (2021) - ~8-9%A result of the new generation coming into viticultureMore expensive to farm organically/biodynamicallyMore labor-intensive - need to be available 7 days/weekIncreased workforce by 15% due to more labor needsYield has decreased due to new farmingUp to 30% yield reduction in some yearsThe 10-year average is ~5-10% reduction in yieldMarketing organics - plays into desires to support the environmentRoederer began organics in 2000 with 6ha -> in 2020, 125ha (50% of estate)Organically certified vineyards are 100% of the historic estateOrganic vineyards are the Cristal and Vintage winesThe future of Champagne - maybe more of all 7 permitted varieties will play a role, with more of a focus on the genetic material of the vines Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.