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- Post-Brexit trade deal is ‘huge relief’ for industry
- Champagne is a fixture of high life in Britain, from the preferred brand – Bollinger – from the fictional super spy James Bond to the coveted status of certain manufacturers as suppliers to the queen and royal family.
- ‘Champagne wines have conquered the hearts of the English for three centuries’
French champagne producers had an additional reason to celebrate this week with the closing of a post-Brexit trade deal between the EU and the UK, the biggest market for sparkling wine synonymous with luxury.
Champagne is an element of high life in Britain, from the favorite brand, Bollinger, to the fictional super spy James Bond, to the coveted status of certain manufacturers as purveyors to the queen and royal family.
In fact, the island nation absorbs between 25 and 30 million bottles of French effervescence each year.
That makes an agreement that scraps new tariffs and quotas on the trade of goods through the English Channel “a huge relief” for the sector, said Jean-Marie Barrillere, president of the WBU federation of champagne houses. .
“It’s a happy ending to a story that has gone on for too long.”
Since the British voted in 2016 to leave the European Union after half a century of membership, the specter of a “no deal” exit has hung over the sector.
“Do you realize that without an agreement the English will become foreigners and Britain a market as distant as Africa or Asia?” Barrillere worried earlier this month, fearing “new taxes, customs procedures, complex bureaucracy. and logistical nightmares. “
The potential pain was even more terrifying given increased sales in the months leading up to Britain’s final exit from the EU single market.
“Whether they are individuals or importers, the British have continued to supply themselves. We continue to deliver,” said the UMC chief.
He found that bottles totaling about 10 percent of annual sales should be safe on British shelves and in wine racks by December 31.
That should generate plenty of bubbles to toast the release of the next glamorous James Bond adventure “No Time To Die,” delayed twice due to the coronavirus pandemic and now scheduled for spring 2021.
“We export a stock a month or two in advance to get ahead of logistics,” said Bollinger boss Charles-Armand de Belenet.
“A simple handshake between James Bond producer Cubby Broccoli and Bollinger’s Christian Bizot has endured since 1979,” he added, a blow all the more valuable since Bollinger is “the smallest of the great champagne houses.”
Bollinger may be on Her Majesty’s Secret Service with Bond.
But there is nothing hidden in the Royal Warrant declaring the role of the house “by appointment to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Suppliers of Champagne”, outside its headquarters in Ay-Champagne, some 150 kilometers east of Paris.
The manufacturer has enjoyed the special status it provides to the court since the reign of Queen Victoria, and its long association with France’s northern neighbor kept De Belenet surprisingly confident during the ups and downs of Brexit.
“The English are very resilient. We expected a blow to confidence (from Brexit), but the market is holding up well. It is stronger than the French market,” he said.
Each year, about a third of Bollinger’s revenue, or € 1.5 million ($ 1.8 million, $ 1.4 million), comes from Britain.
Manufacturers that produce less than the roughly three million bottles of Bollinger per year have been more eager for demand to dry up across the Channel.
Joseph Perrier, who sells about 20% of his 800,000 bottles a year to Britain, doesn’t have the scale to absorb the kind of hit that a no-deal would have given his business.
“We are not in a position to handle all customs formalities for a distant market” outside the EU system, Joseph Perrier’s boss Benjamin Fourmon worried ahead of this week’s breakthrough.
A supplier loved enough by the British royal family to be considered their “unofficial partner”, the champagne house feared a “catastrophe” if new trade barriers appeared.
However, “Champagne wines have captivated the hearts of the English for three centuries,” said Maxime Toubart, president of the region’s winegrowers union.
“We will keep our eyes open, but the ties between Champagne and the UK give us confidence” despite the turmoil to come when Britain leaves the single market.
