With the vineyards looking very stark and lifeless at this time of year, it would be a good time to start to talk about the ‘other issue’ that seems to be occupying the thoughts of the Champenois these days: expansion. Strangely enough, the residents of West London also have a parallel dilemma on their hands: the expansion of Heathrow airport. In both cases, it is something that will probably happen, despite local protest and it is also heavily considered by the authorities to be a course of action that is necessary for a successful future. As this is a Champagne blog and there are plenty of blogs concerning Heathrow expansion elsewhere, I will just concentrate on matters the other side of the Channel. Firstly though, we need to do a bit of number crunching. According to expert Tom Stevenson, annual production of Champagne at the turn of the 19^th century was 600,000 bottles, rising to 6 million bottles in the 1840’s and 20 million bottles by the 1880’s. In the last ten years, average annual production of Champagne has been a whopping 330 million bottles from an area covering somewhere between 35,000 to 38,000 hectares. Last year, worldwide demand rose to 333 million bottles. So where is all the Champagne going? The larger Houses, of which there are some 260, have been exploiting new markets in Russia, China and India, where with new wealth, demand for their bottles has exceeded all expectations. These larger Houses are responsible for 71% of all Champagne sales and approximately 88% of all exported Champagnes, rising to 97% outside Europe, yet only own some 12% of the vineyards (Tom Stevenson). A very well kept secret is the fact the Recoltant-Manipulants (RM in small print on the label of the bottle), or the small producers have steadily been growing in stature. Sales of their wines in France are now about three quarters of those of the Negociant-Manipulants (NM). Often, the RM wines (as with the Champagnes selected by The Champagne Guild) are of a superior quality to the NM Champagnes, which many people are increasingly finding somewhat industrialised and lacking in character. The RM Champagnes are much more wines of ‘terroir’ and can closely reflect the characteristics and micro-climate of the village that the grower lives in. They are much more about Champagne as a complex wine as well as Champagne the drink of celebration. On my recent visits, it has been very apparent that many of the RM producers see a very clear future ahead of them. Rather than selling their grapes on, they are involved in dedicated internal expansion (digging down for extra cellarage and adding on extra buildings for storage), so that they themselves can gradually become completely independent small houses providing high quality non-vintage and vintage Champagnes. So, is there now more than a bead of perspiration forming on the brows of the men in suits at the multi-nationals? If not, why would there be the drive to expand the area by a percentage to accommodate a production of a further 100 million bottles each year by 2011? The problem will be as to who exactly decides which areas of land will be granted full Champagne appellation status and for what reasons. For the lucky ones, this will overnight make the value of their land rise at a meteoric rate and whether they cultivate it themselves or sell it on to the numerous vultures hovering around, their financial worries will more than likely be laid to rest. But what of the next door neighbour, who has a similar quantity of land, but which sadly faces in the wrong direction or hasn’t the right soil? Nothing! Potentially, this could be a recipe for deep resentment. In all of my travels to the Champagne region, I have found the Champenois to be incredibly proud, warm, passionate and welcoming. In every village, despite intense competition and irrespective of size there has been a sense of community. Perhaps what is now lurking around the corner may present the Champenois with the most achingly divisive and challenging scenario that they have had to battle with since the Champagne ‘civil wars’ of 1911. There will be winners and losers, but it will be a tragedy if the planned expansion tears the soul out of this small area of the world that has seen more than its fair share of turbulence and is currently enjoying one of its longest periods of calm and stability.