Vineyard Lands
Today there are over 19,000 independent growers in the Champagne region, accounting for nearly 88% of all vineyard land in the region. Around 5000 of these growers produce wine from their own grapes. The larger Champagne houses have holdings in only 12% of the region's vineyards, making it a necessity for them to buy grapes from independent growers. Under current Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) regulations, there are strict limitations on planting. Some growers are seeing an economic advantage in making wine from their own grapes, especially if they have land in one of Champagne's Grand cru villages, rather than selling them to the larger houses where they become part of a generic blend.
Read more about this topic: Grower Champagne
Famous quotes containing the words vineyard and/or lands:
“With the farming of a verse
Make a vineyard of the curse,”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)
“Old men who never cheated, never doubted,
Communicated monthly, sit and stare
At the new suburb stretched beyond the run-way
Where a young man lands hatless from the air.”
—Sir John Betjeman (1906–1984)