“Moutard isn’t afraid to experiment and have fun … the Pet Nats illustrate that you can have a heritage producer making classic Champagne, beautifully refined and elegant, while at the same time making a fashionable wine with a farting sheep on the label,” says James Dainty, business unit controller at Lanchester Wines.
The prestige status of Champagne owes much to the great names that adorn those famous bottles, but family ownership is relatively rare these days, outside the echelons of small-scale ‘Grower Champagne’. So, finding a producer to complement the family ethos of the Lanchester Wines business, at the volume required for a dynamic and growing portfolio was no easy task for the County Durham-based buying team.
A family affair: Veronique, Francois and Agnes Moutard
The Moutard family has been making wine since 1642, from its base in Buxeuil on the slopes of the Côte des Bar, first producing a Champagne in 1927, when Lucien Moutard took over the vineyards. Today, the family business, which extends to Burgundy, is headed by son François Moutard, his sisters Agnès and Véronique, together with the next generation: Thomas, Edouard, Alexandre, Benoît and Victor.
Lanchester Wines’ history might not extend nearly as far, but it is no less illustrious: established in 1980, in Tony and Veronica Cleary’s living room, the business has grown to become a sustainability pioneer, with Lanchester Wines and its sister business Greencroft Bottling expanding in both size and reputation, whilst retaining a family feel.
“Moutard is defined by its ongoing dedication to quality, constantly evolving, whilst maintaining its heritage. It’s a perfect balance of modern and traditional, while making the best product they possibly can across everything they do,” says James Dainty, business unit controller at Lanchester Wines. “Champagne has a lot of co-ops and plenty of big corporations, so for us, it is wonderful to work with a family business like our own.”
A marriage made at ProWein
It’s an important and strategic step for Lanchester Wines to be working with an historic Champagne and Burgundy house as Famille Moutard
Lest anyone should doubt the power of ProWein, the echoing halls of Düsseldorf’s Messe were the perfect place to bring together a heritage producer and a family firm that shared its values and ethos.
“As a family business we hold relationships in high regard and, as such, we take our time to select our partners,” says Lanchester Wines director of sales, Mark Roberts. “With Champagne being one of the most iconic categories in wine, we needed to make sure that not only would we benefit, but our partner would too. Working very closely with James (Dainty) and our director of purchasing, Lesley Cook, we set ourselves an internal brief and we were fortunate to meet with Moutard at Prowein. From that moment, we knew it was a very positive match.”
Premium positioning
With a business built broadly equally on the production of Champagne and Burgundy, Moutard is a key player in the premium sector, exporting around 80% of its output to 80 different countries. Though around 700,000 bottles of Champagne are made every year, the portfolio is idiosyncratic, with around 15 different cuvées featuring rarely seen heritage grape varieties that came close to extinction, while the focus skews strikingly towards vintage, with non-vintage accounting for only 60% of Moutard’s production (annually, NV accounts for 90% of all Champagne).
“For me, the joy of Champagne is its heritage and traditions. This is a category of exceptional products, crafted through generations of skill and made with love, which creates that level of excellence that consumers trust and covet,” says Dainty.
The range of Champange Famille Moutard wines
“The Moutard portfolio starts with the core product, the Champagne Moutard Grande Cuvée Brut (available in four formats, 37.5cl, 75cl, 150cl and 300cl) … this style of the wine helps lead into the other products (because) the Pinot Noir-dominant blend sets the tone for their wines. It is this passion for Champagne matched with expertise and heritage that sets Moutard apart.”
Emblematic of Moutard’s philosophy, Champagne Moutard Cuvée 6 Cépages 2011 is a very unusual vintage blend combining six different varieties, rather than the usual three (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier), adding Arbane, Petite Meslier and Pinot Blanc to the mix (though not in the cuvée, Pinot Gris is also approved for use in Champagne, while Voltis – a fungus resistant hybrid – was recently added to the list).
“The 6 Cépage Brut Nature is a super exciting wine, it’s a unique and special product, something we are extremely proud to be associated with. There’s nothing wrong with using the three key champagne grapes, of course, which make for fantastic blends, but this creates a point of difference,” adds Dainty.
Famille Moutard’s export manager Jean-Benoît Hery says it is the diversity of its range that hopefully stands out to potential customers
Moutard’s export manager, Jean-Benoît Hery agrees that the unusual varieties provide a talking point for Champagne lovers, as well as a celebration of the region’s vinous history: “François Moutard started making 6 Cépages 20 years ago. (The Cuvée) is a bit of a curiosity as not a lot of producers make such diverse Champagnes and, if they do, they tend to age in stainless steel, while we barrel ferment each varietal, followed by 10 years on the lees, then disgorged with no dosage.”
Beyond the unusual six grape blend, Arbane is also showcased on its own in Moutard’s limited production masterpiece, Champagne Moutard Arbane Vieilles Vignes 2014: “François is a champion of diversity and, in 1990, created our first pure Arbane – the only old vine Arbane Champagne in the world – because he wanted to see what he could do with this amazing grape,” says Hery.
Tradition meets innovation
Though the Moutard name is synonymous with history and tradition, its portfolio offers a surprising level of innovation – even mischief – through its pair of crown-capped Pet Nats (Pétillant-Naturel) produced using the ancestral method – a traditional way of making sparkling wine. Made with fruit from the family’s estates in Burgundy, Pet’ Mout’ Pet Nat, from Chardonnay, and Pet’ Mout’ Pet Nat Rosé, from Pinot Noir, are branded with a funky-looking farting sheep (‘péter’ is the French for fart, while ‘mouton’ is a sheep and also a play on the family name).
“Moutard isn’t afraid to experiment and have fun (and) the Pet Nats illustrate that you can have a heritage producer making classic Champagne, beautifully refined and elegant, while at the same time making a fashionable wine with a farting sheep on the label. It shows a sense of humour and flexibility, not to mention expertise from the winemaker,” says Dainty.
“These natural wines have gained popularity in recent years as an artisanal alternative to sparkling wines and signal an evolution. Here we have a world-renowned Champagne house growing grapes near Chablis and using an ancient winemaking method to produce cutting edge on-trend wines. It’s very exciting.”
The Moutard family has been making wine since 1642, from its base in Buxeuil in Champagne
That level of excitement is palpable within both organisations: family institutions, rooted in tradition, but never afraid of it, working together to innovate, while celebrating what makes them distinctive and different.
Beyond being a natural fit for both partners, Mark Roberts believes the new relationship presents an opportunity to showcase the breadth, depth and sheer quality of Lanchester Wines’ offer: “This is the continuation of a strategy that we have been pursuing successfully over the last decade at, measured by the growth of the prestige category within our portfolio.”
The sense of entente cordiale is also shared across the channel, according to Jean-Benoît Hery: “Before all else, Moutard is a family, passionate about wines and looking to future generations (which is) why the fit with Lanchester Wines has been obvious, as both families are looking in the same direction, growing together, and making a fruitful and long lasting partnership in one of the biggest markets for both Champagne and Burgundy.”
- You can find out more about Champagne Famille Moutard at its website here.
- You can find out more about Lanchester Wines here.
- Lanchester Wines is commercial partner to The Buyer.
- David Kermode is a writer, broadcaster and judge and also a consultant to Lanchester Group.
