20 Years of Crémant de Luxembourg

It’s not like you needed an excuse to open a bottle of Luxembourg bubbly, but November 15, 2011 marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of the first bottle of Crémant de Luxembourg.

At an average price per bottle of around 10 Euros, Crémant de Luxembourg is a festive addition that can suit any budget. While commonly consumed as an aperitif before dinner or with dessert, it can also be enjoyed alongside a meal as one would enjoy a glass of wine.

“To me, it is better to spend 14 euros on a good crémant than on a bad champagne. In Luxembourg, the climate with the soil and the local grapes – these are three important things to produce a good crémant,” said Gildas Royer, owner of wine store In Vino Gildas, who describes crémant as fruity, crunchy, round with a wide fruit flavor. “It is friendly, it is accessible to everyone.”

The national label

Crémant is a style of sparkling wine that is produced in the traditional method used to make champagne. Like champagne, the name crémant is a title reserved for sparkling wines that have been produced under strict regulations in a legally designated geographic region, or appellation.

Luxembourg’s Institut Viti-Vinicole is responsible for ensuring the quality of wines and sparkling wines produced in Luxembourg. Its “Marque Nationale – Crémant de Luxembourg” was introduced in January 1991 as a quality seal that is placed on all bottles of crémant that pass rigorous inspections designed to verify that the crémant has been produced in accordance with European regulations.

The grapes used to make crémant must be hand-picked and of the highest quality. Any grape varietal grown in Luxembourg may be used to make crémant, but there are limits on the volume of juice that can be pressed from grapes harvested for the purpose of making crémant. Sparkling wines made by Luxembourg producers that do not meet Crémant de Luxembourg standards are labeled as “vin mousseaux” or “vin mousseux de qualité”.

Three key factors

“Our experience in why we introduced crémant had to do with three different facts that we saw in Luxembourg,” explained Constant Infalt, general manager of Luxembourg’s wine cooperative and largest producer, Domaines Vinsmoselle.

He was part of the team that set about bringing crémant to Luxembourg in the late 1980s in an effort to expand Luxembourg’s wine market.

First, Luxembourg’s wine region had recently undergone major change in varietals. Elbling and rivaner dominated production in Luxembourg until the 1970s and 80s, when vineyard owners began replacing substantial quantities of vines with pinot gris, pinot blanc, and riesling. “The percentages changed and this allowed us to develop new products,” said Mr. Infalt.

“Secondly, there was ‘Luxembourgish champagne’ as we called it,” added Mr. Infalt. “Often such products were produced with non-Luxembourgish, imported wines, but the consumers didn’t know it. That was why it was important to introduce new designations for only Luxembourg products.”

Elevating the requirements for creating sparkling wine in Luxembourg would provide transparency to the consumer, and comply with European wine regulations that were changing around this time. And because profit margins are higher for sparkling wine than still wine, winegrowers would also stand to benefit financially.

Lastly, tastes were shifting. “There was a huge change in consumption behaviors. Normally, sparkling wine was for special celebrations, an anniversary or the New Year. Suddenly during the 1990s, all of that changed. The sparkling became a more convenient drink – a daily drink, if you want – that helped to develop crémant,” said Mr. Infalt.

Women were in search of a drink they felt was their own, he explains, and men who used to drink mainly red wine were suddenly drinking sparkling wines as their new lifestyle drink. Mr. Infalt adds: “Our success was clearly driven by these behavior changes, and I think this is still the same today.”

The first bottle

When Crémant de Luxembourg was established in January of 1991, four producers presented sparkling wines to the Marque Nationale committee in order to be recognized.

Domaines Vinsmoselle was first. On November 15, 1991, they launched “Poll-Fabaire,” their first bottle of Crémant de Luxembourg. The label was the namesake of Paul Faber, the first person to serve as president of the cooperative when it was established 90 years ago this year, in 1921. “This year we are celebrating the 90th anniversary of this winery. We are at the same time talking about 90 years of cooperation in the wine region,” said Mr. Infalt.

Domaines Vinsmoselle produces 12 million bottles per year between its six facilities along Luxembourg’s Moselle River. Half of the wine it produces is exported, but of the 50 percent that remains in Luxembourg, 40 percent of their sales are crémant. In the coming years, Domaines Vinsmoselle plans to increase this amount, making crémant account for 50 percent of its total wine sales within Luxembourg.

Uncorking the future

Looking into the future, Domaines Vinsmoselle sees more opportunities for Crémant de Luxembourg in Belgium, in Scandanavian markets and also in Russia and China.

“Our main target is to find ways where the Luxembourg wine region – which is still today seen as a wine region – can be seen as a crémant region.” Mr. Infalt adds: “In the long term, this is the target for all of the region, even for our competitors.”