Did LVMH buy Montaudon? Heard this and was bummed for our customers. Smart move by LVMH if true.
Cheers,
Veronica,
Bought them in late 2008 and sold them at the end of 2010 to the Champagne Alliance co-op who is placing it under the direction of their Jacquart brand. LVMH kept the land and any of the grape contracts they desired. Like many other LVMH acquisitions this was about getting grapes for their core brands. Unfortunately, in Champagne one of the only ways to gain access to more land/contracts is to buy another house, strip the land/contracts, and sell off the rest (brand, stocks, winery, etc…).
Now I am curious, Veronica, do you mean that you will not carry any LVMH brands?
Doug, we carry all their brands… but it’s good to know the scoop. Montaudon was a nice, entry-level Champagne we could sell for $21 and change. C’est la vie! Cheers,
Brad, thank you for info!
We had a bottle of the NV over the last few nights, the one with the big M on the front. I think this is being made under the new regime?
Although a “value” in the sense that it can be a $20ish bubbly, my wife didn’t think it was really much better than a low end cava. I would agree with her.
Not having tasted this in the past, I don’t know first hand how much the quality changed when they shifted to being a brand for coop grapes, as mentioned above, but I’d rather have a good California sparkler over this.
Seems to be a Total Wine direct import. Maybe not one of their brighter stars in the portfolio.
Ah, the glamour of the wine trade.
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I bought and drank a couple of cases of the 2002 from WTSO over the past holiday season. A great buy for under $30. This appears to be the reason it was so cheap.