Spring in Champagne sees a patchwork of colours in the vineyards: some are bright green with cover crops and some brown from newly tilled earth, while others are coloured bright orange with dead vegetation following spraying with herbicides. The power brokers in the region are eager to highlight their efforts to protect the environment, but is Champagne truly going green or only greenwashing?
Twenty years ago, I wrote my Master of Wine dissertation onusing Champagne as an example. A curious choice for someone who had spent his career in sales, yet it seemed important, though few people were talking about wine and the environment. Vines were farmed differently then – the goal was volume, rather than depth of flavour. Few producers attempted organic or biodynamic viticulture, and when sustainability was brought up, more than a few growers refused to listen.
