1
00:00:01,882 --> 00:00:05,203
So when a region of the world 
becomes known for a specific type of food,

2
00:00:05,203 --> 00:00:07,365
they'll go to great lengths to protect it.

3
00:00:07,365 --> 00:00:08,832
I mean, let's look at Kobe beef.

4
00:00:08,832 --> 00:00:10,112
It can only be called that

5
00:00:10,112 --> 00:00:12,267
if it meets a very particular
set of requirements,

6
00:00:12,267 --> 00:00:15,380
including that the cow was born, fed, 
and slaughtered in a region of Japan

7
00:00:15,380 --> 00:00:17,730
that includes the city of Kobe.

8
00:00:17,730 --> 00:00:19,849
Quebec regulates who can sell maple syrup

9
00:00:19,849 --> 00:00:23,016
and the government even keeps
a strategic reserve.

10
00:00:23,016 --> 00:00:26,602
French champagne is from, you guessed it, 
the Champagne region of France

11
00:00:26,602 --> 00:00:28,576
and it's heavily regulated.

12
00:00:28,576 --> 00:00:31,185
But the pandemic is exposing 
the behind-the-scenes drama

13
00:00:31,185 --> 00:00:32,519
about how it's produced.

14
00:00:33,419 --> 00:00:35,678
DYING ON THE VINE

15
00:00:38,348 --> 00:00:42,396
You must hold it like this
and tap, all the way up.

16
00:00:42,396 --> 00:00:42,944
Okay.

17
00:00:42,944 --> 00:00:44,210
And I use the back of the knife.

18
00:00:44,210 --> 00:00:46,426
- Here, this part. OK.
- Yes, that part.

19
00:00:46,426 --> 00:00:47,699
Okay, merci.

20
00:00:48,519 --> 00:00:50,013
Oh, it's quite heavy.

21
00:00:51,116 --> 00:00:51,899
Okay.

22
00:00:51,899 --> 00:00:54,704
This is very difficult.

23
00:00:54,704 --> 00:00:57,800
Whoaaaaa!

24
00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,847
(Charlet) <i>There were many reasons 
to break out the champagne sabre in 2020.</i>

25
00:01:01,847 --> 00:01:05,228
Whooooo!

26
00:01:05,228 --> 00:01:08,469
<i>And that's bad news
for Charles Duval-Leroy and his family.</i>

27
00:01:09,366 --> 00:01:09,695
Merci.

28
00:01:09,695 --> 00:01:13,611
This is what we have today for 
Femme de Champagne: non-vintage.

29
00:01:13,611 --> 00:01:18,095
It is more of apéritif-style vintage.

30
00:01:18,095 --> 00:01:21,299
We stay in the frame 
of elegance and finesse.

31
00:01:21,609 --> 00:01:25,268
<i>Duval-Leroy has been in
this business for 150 years.</i>

32
00:01:25,268 --> 00:01:28,169
<i>They produce more than
2 million bottles annually</i>

33
00:01:28,169 --> 00:01:30,615
<i>for big clients like Delta Airlines</i>

34
00:01:30,615 --> 00:01:33,096
<i>and the Moulin Rouge.</i>

35
00:01:33,096 --> 00:01:37,893
<i>With Covid-19 keeping planes on the ground</i>
<i>and event spaces closed,</i>

36
00:01:37,893 --> 00:01:41,001
<i>sales have plummeted by almost 40%,</i>

37
00:01:41,001 --> 00:01:44,435
<i>and the champagne industry
has had to take drastic action.</i>

38
00:01:45,751 --> 00:01:48,046
This is an unusual year.

39
00:01:48,046 --> 00:01:49,685
We had a good harvest,

40
00:01:49,685 --> 00:01:52,034
but due to this COVID-19 crisis,

41
00:01:52,034 --> 00:01:54,633
we couldn't harvest all the grapes.

42
00:01:54,633 --> 00:01:58,681
As you can see, 
there are a lot of grapes left.

43
00:01:58,681 --> 00:02:01,833
It's a frustrating year for us.

44
00:02:01,833 --> 00:02:05,532
If I didn't the context,
it looks like sabotage.

45
00:02:05,532 --> 00:02:08,662
It's really something unprecedented.

46
00:02:08,662 --> 00:02:11,244
There are so many times
that we ask ourselves

47
00:02:11,244 --> 00:02:14,253
if there's a new wine-making method.

48
00:02:14,253 --> 00:02:16,975
No, it's just throwing the grapes
on the ground.

49
00:02:16,975 --> 00:02:18,986
It makes no sense.

50
00:02:18,986 --> 00:02:21,604
With the sales dropping 
throughout the year,

51
00:02:21,604 --> 00:02:23,168
how did the industry respond?

52
00:02:23,168 --> 00:02:25,500
The first step was to say,

53
00:02:25,500 --> 00:02:27,278
"Let's reduce quotas.

54
00:02:27,278 --> 00:02:29,468
If we reduce quotas, we reduce production.

55
00:02:29,468 --> 00:02:32,235
We won't inflate the stock
that hasn't been sold."

56
00:02:32,235 --> 00:02:35,119
It's a truly collective response
to lower production,

57
00:02:35,119 --> 00:02:38,100
which is why we have left grapes
on the vine today.

58
00:02:38,100 --> 00:02:42,913
It's a heartbreaking response,
but we know it's necessary

59
00:02:42,913 --> 00:02:45,200
for the long term in Champagne.

60
00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:50,566
(Charlet) <i>Champagne has spent decades
meticulously curating a global image</i>

61
00:02:50,566 --> 00:02:53,582
<i>as the way to mark special occasions.</i>

62
00:02:53,582 --> 00:02:55,719
<i>It's this type of deliberate management</i>

63
00:02:55,719 --> 00:02:59,312
<i>that led to cutting production
by 100 million bottles this year</i>

64
00:02:59,312 --> 00:03:01,218
<i>to prop up prices,</i>

65
00:03:01,218 --> 00:03:06,031
<i>but the decision left 
over 10,000 tons of grapes to waste away,</i>

66
00:03:06,031 --> 00:03:08,396
<i>and it didn't necessarily account for issues</i>

67
00:03:08,396 --> 00:03:10,611
<i>that were already threatening 
champagne's reign</i>

68
00:03:10,611 --> 00:03:12,517
<i>as a celebratory drink of choice.</i>

69
00:03:13,568 --> 00:03:16,148
Can you talk a little bit about 
the state of of the champagne industry

70
00:03:16,148 --> 00:03:17,920
before the pandemic hit?

71
00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:20,062
Because I remember there was already
talk of champagne

72
00:03:20,062 --> 00:03:21,569
having a little bit of an image crisis

73
00:03:21,569 --> 00:03:22,583
before COVID.

74
00:03:23,534 --> 00:03:26,914
Since 2008, champagne 
hasn't regained its sales

75
00:03:26,914 --> 00:03:30,500
simply because the final consumer,

76
00:03:30,500 --> 00:03:32,566
due to to economic issues,

77
00:03:32,566 --> 00:03:35,235
has shifted from champagne 
to other alcohols

78
00:03:35,235 --> 00:03:37,487
or other apéritif, of course.

79
00:03:37,487 --> 00:03:39,552
Champagne hasn't benefited yet
from Instagram.

80
00:03:39,552 --> 00:03:41,445
We see more and more that

81
00:03:41,445 --> 00:03:43,811
there is an audience that
needs to show itself

82
00:03:43,811 --> 00:03:46,650
with a big glass with lots of ice
and colors in it.

83
00:03:46,650 --> 00:03:49,134
A gin and tonic that's well prepared

84
00:03:49,134 --> 00:03:50,797
and looks beautiful.

85
00:03:50,797 --> 00:03:53,182
And champagne is very elegant,

86
00:03:53,182 --> 00:03:56,945
but it's served in a small glass
with not a lot in it.

87
00:03:56,945 --> 00:03:59,883
It's too discreet to take a selfie
or a photo with.

88
00:03:59,883 --> 00:04:01,581
"Look, I'm in a dreamy landscape."

89
00:04:01,849 --> 00:04:04,814
(Charlet) <i>But some smaller producers 
have a different take</i>

90
00:04:04,814 --> 00:04:06,797
<i>on the right response to the crisis.</i>

91
00:04:07,865 --> 00:04:09,030
The color is incredible,

92
00:04:09,030 --> 00:04:11,147
it looks like Roussanne [grapes].

93
00:04:12,671 --> 00:04:14,371
(Charlet) <i>While the big names 
in the industry</i>

94
00:04:14,371 --> 00:04:16,755
<i>sell millions of bottles each year,</i>

95
00:04:16,755 --> 00:04:22,601
<i>Alselme Selosse makes only about 50,000
and each one can go for hundreds of euros.</i>

96
00:04:24,736 --> 00:04:28,018
We're looking for the grapes' stems.

97
00:04:28,018 --> 00:04:29,209
(Charlet) Like this?

98
00:04:29,209 --> 00:04:31,231
(Anselme) Yes. And then, on the soil.

99
00:04:31,231 --> 00:04:33,270
(Charlet) No? That's sad.

100
00:04:33,270 --> 00:04:35,377
(Anselme) Yes, it's sad because there's
a full team that worked on it

101
00:04:35,377 --> 00:04:39,285
for a whole year.

102
00:04:39,285 --> 00:04:41,438
This is a gift from nature.

103
00:04:41,438 --> 00:04:43,012
We're insulting nature.

104
00:04:43,012 --> 00:04:47,603
We're not able to keep what it gives us.

105
00:04:47,603 --> 00:04:52,052
(Charlet) <i>The quotas mean all producers
are leaving grapes on the ground</i>

106
00:04:52,052 --> 00:04:52,746
<i>to compost.</i>

107
00:04:52,746 --> 00:04:56,369
<i>Something that Selosse sees 
as particularly hard for smaller companies</i>

108
00:04:56,369 --> 00:04:58,317
<i>that can't lose out on revenue.</i>

109
00:04:58,317 --> 00:05:02,803
So the industry implemented a
quota to try and ease the crisis.

110
00:05:02,803 --> 00:05:04,295
Do you think that was the right solution?

111
00:05:05,053 --> 00:05:06,377
It's not a solution.

112
00:05:06,377 --> 00:05:11,585
It's a way to carry on
while keeping everyone at ease.

113
00:05:11,585 --> 00:05:14,370
I see it as a race to the bottom.

114
00:05:14,370 --> 00:05:17,653
Those who make no effort, who don't adapt,

115
00:05:17,653 --> 00:05:21,744
who see vines as grape-producing machines,

116
00:05:21,744 --> 00:05:25,119
they are the ones being rewarded.

117
00:05:25,119 --> 00:05:30,776
So they want the good producers
to waste their high-quality fruits

118
00:05:30,776 --> 00:05:34,702
so that they can sell
their poor quality fruits.

119
00:05:34,702 --> 00:05:37,735
That's not how you give
young people a future.

120
00:05:37,735 --> 00:05:41,616
These three young men
are the future of the region.

121
00:05:41,616 --> 00:05:46,295
(Charlet) <i>For Selosse, champagne success 
depends on innovation</i>

122
00:05:46,295 --> 00:05:48,048
<i>from the next generation of winemakers.</i>

123
00:05:49,044 --> 00:05:51,829
Charlet, would you like
a glass of champagne?

124
00:05:52,286 --> 00:05:55,879
Okay. (laughter)

125
00:05:55,879 --> 00:05:59,010
(Charlet) <i>But younger producers
like Alexander Chartogne</i>

126
00:05:59,010 --> 00:06:02,043
<i>are also the ones
with the most recent investments,</i>

127
00:06:02,043 --> 00:06:04,619
<i>leaving them the most at risk financially.</i>

128
00:06:06,300 --> 00:06:07,902
I love it.

129
00:06:08,531 --> 00:06:11,469
Would you drink this for
an aperitif or with food?

130
00:06:11,887 --> 00:06:13,193
It depends on your mood.

131
00:06:13,193 --> 00:06:14,452
It depends on the moment.

132
00:06:14,452 --> 00:06:16,453
You can drink it
really early in the morning

133
00:06:16,453 --> 00:06:18,785
or really late in the evening.
(laughter)

134
00:06:19,717 --> 00:06:20,927
This is really good, though.

135
00:06:22,644 --> 00:06:25,254
(Charlet) <i>Most champagne makers
are doing fine</i>

136
00:06:25,254 --> 00:06:26,571
<i>for now.</i>

137
00:06:26,838 --> 00:06:30,483
<i>But their future depends
on when the pandemic ends.</i>

138
00:06:30,483 --> 00:06:34,711
<i>And more importantly, 
if sales pick up when it does.</i>

139
00:06:35,352 --> 00:06:38,734
Of all the industries 
that have been hurt by the pandemic,

140
00:06:39,650 --> 00:06:41,980
champagne is not necessarily
the most sympathetic one.

141
00:06:42,461 --> 00:06:45,282
Why should people care
that champagne's been hurt?

142
00:06:45,717 --> 00:06:47,557
In many countries--
whether it's the English,

143
00:06:47,557 --> 00:06:49,183
the Americans, the Germans--

144
00:06:49,183 --> 00:06:52,168
nobody likes French people
but everyone loves France,

145
00:06:52,168 --> 00:06:55,454
and champagne is the tip of that image.