{"id":56391,"date":"2024-12-13T14:39:51","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T19:39:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gentologie.com\/?p=56391"},"modified":"2025-10-19T13:36:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T17:36:31","slug":"telmont-champagne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gentologie.com\/en\/fine-dining\/wines-and-spirits\/wines\/champagnes-and-sparkling-wines\/champagnes\/telmont-champagne\/","title":{"rendered":"Telmont Champagne : Making champagne differently"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the last days of summer, as well as recently at the Grande D\u00e9gustation de Montr\u00e9al, I had the opportunity to try Telmont Champagne. I also had the opportunity to chat with the company\u2019s president, Ludovic du Plessis, just a few weeks before the harvest. To put it mildly, my conversational partner has extensive knowledge of the wine and spirit business. He began his journey as a sales trainee with an internship at LVMH in the 1990s, moving on to work at Sopexa and Altadis before rejoining LVMH. His path ultimately led him to become the global head of marketing for the Louis XIII<\/a> cognac brand. This individual\u2019s impressive r\u00e9sum\u00e9 spans decades within the realm of high-end products. Join me as we delve into this remarkable figure\u2019s fascinating story, shedding light on both his personal journey and the captivating world of luxury. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Ludovic
Ludovic du Plessis, President of Telmont Champagne House
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Normand Boulanger <\/strong>:If you\u2019ll allow me, I\u2019d like to start by saying that I was lucky enough to taste the R\u00e9serve Brut (the one you find in Canada with the Ros\u00e9), and it\u2019s magnificent. The bubbles are fine, it\u2019s delicious. Frankly, bravo!<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The
The different cuv\u00e9es from House Telmont. Some of them still bear the old transparent bottle.
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Ludovic du Plessis<\/strong> :Thank you, Normand, you know that everything we\u2019re going to say to each other today only makes sense if the wine is good. If the wine isn\u2019t good, we\u2019re not having this conversation. And it all starts with the wine. At Telmont, we say that wine is good if the land is beautiful. And that\u2019s why I\u2019m behind Telmont today. I don\u2019t know if you know the genesis behind the Telmont story, but I\u2019ll tell you. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My interest in champagne stems from the fact that I worked for Dom P\u00e9rignon for 10 years, and then the R\u00e9my Cointreau group called me to become president of Louis XIII cognac, so I accepted for a 7-year term.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Ludovic
Ludovic du Plessis President of Telmont Champagne House and Will Butler CEO of Brompton
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After those 7 wonderful years, I asked myself what I wanted to do with my life. And as someone who loves champagne, I wanted to start my own business, but one with meaning. So I got on my Brompton<\/a> bike and set off for Champagne, with the aim of buying a champagne house. In my mind, I had 4 boxes to tick to find the right one. I wanted a house with an incredible history\u2014Telmont was born in 1912 out of the Champagne revolution of 1911. Secondly, I wanted one that was still a family business, my partner, Bertrand Lh\u00f4pital, who remains the Cellar Master and Viticultural Manager, is the one who makes the wine and is the 4th generation of the family. Thirdly, that the wines were incredible, it was really good, good tension and beautiful minerality, which has a real body, not heavy, very airy, a long finish on the palate and fine bubbles. And 4th, I should find a house that had started its conversion to organic farming. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Bertrand
Bertrand Lh\u00f4pital
Cellar Master and Head of Viticulture of the House of Telmont
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

NB<\/strong> :For the last criterion, it can\u2019t have been easy to find!    <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LdP<\/strong> :Indeed, with only 5% organic farming in Champagne, it was almost a mission impossible! And at this Telmont winery, Bertrand (Lh\u00f4pital, mentioned above) has the same philosophy and had already started farming organically. So we teamed up. I presented the project to the R\u00e9my Cointreau group, my employer, with the aim of making the best Champagne, without compromising on the environment. They say, “We\u2019re in “.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"A
A view of the vineyards of the Telmont champagne house
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Today, we are four partners: Groupe R\u00e9my Cointreau (main shareholder), myself (shareholder and Chairman\/CEO), Bertrand Lh\u00f4pital (shareholder and cellar master) and a long-time friend, Leonardo DiCaprio (minority shareholder).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NB<\/strong> :Your latest shareholder is somewhat well known.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Leonardo
Leonardo DiCaprio and Ludovic du Plessis, two of the shareholders of the Telmont champagne house.
Photo :Telmont | Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

LdP<\/strong> :Mr. DiCaprio is not an ambassador, he\u2019s not the face of Telmont, he\u2019s a shareholder. It\u2019s much more powerful for us than a spokesperson. You also have to understand that this is not celebrity champagne. The reason he\u2019s an investor is that he\u2019s a spokesman at the United Nations for the notion of climate change. It was he, Leonardo, who planted the environmental seed in my head 15 years ago. He used to text me: \u201cLudo, watch this movie, watch this documentary, etc.\u201d and so it got into my head and that\u2019s why, 4 years ago, I said, \u201cLet\u2019s make the best champagne, without compromising on sustainability.\u201d And we made those decisions in 2021, not tomorrow; we did that yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have initiated a project called \u201cAu Nom de la Terre\u201d (\u201cIn the Name of the Earth\u201d), which focuses on the soil as its primary component. And when we talk about biodiversity in Champagne, we mean planting trees and plant cover, which improves biodiversity. And what we say at Telmont is that you can\u2019t stop there! We have to stop using herbicides, pesticides and fungicides\u2014in other words, stop using synthetic chemistry and go organic. We\u2019re doing this on our estate, which covers 25 hectares, and we\u2019re also doing it with our winegrowing partners, who cover 75 hectares, 70% of which is organic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re lucky, as I say every year, that in Champagne we have a climate reserve. In bad years, we can dip into it. It\u2019s an insurance policy that other regions of France don\u2019t have. That\u2019s why I say, particularly because we have this advantage, we should all go organic.
This way of doing things is good for the planet, for health and for wine. It\u2019s beneficial, it brings energy to the wine, it\u2019s a wine that\u2019s full of life, it\u2019s a happy wine!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NB<\/strong> :I guess that\u2019s not all, is it?<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Ludovic
Ludovic du Plessis and the new lighter bottle
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

LdP<\/strong> : No, there\u2019s also the House\u2019s carbon footprint. We\u2019ve made some important decisions. We\u2019ve said, in June 2021, we\u2019re stopping gift boxes, we\u2019re stopping limited editions. The best packaging is no packaging at all. Just by removing the packaging, we reduce the House\u2019s carbon footprint by 8%. I\u2019ve been told I\u2019m going to lose sales, and I said, \u201cNo, it\u2019s a question of education!\u201d In any case, if you\u2019re a true luxury brand, you have to be irreproachable from an environmental point of view. You\u2019re not going to wait 5 years for your customer to tell you to do more for the environment; it\u2019s up to you to set an example for your customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, still with the aim of reducing the carbon footprint, 30% of the Maison\u2019s footprint is the weight of the bottle. We\u2019ve done this in four stages. We stopped using the bespoke bottle (900 g) and went for the classic champagne bottle (835 g). Secondly, we asked ourselves if we could make a lighter bottle. You have to be careful because there\u2019s twice the pressure of a tire in a champagne bottle, so you have to be careful with the glass. So we went to see Verallia<\/a>, the glass bottle manufacturer, and they came up with an 800 g bottle. We tried it, and the good news is that it doesn\u2019t break! We left the patent open to all. Then we eliminated the clear bottles (Ros\u00e9 and Blanc de blancs) because they can\u2019t be made from recycled glass, whereas the green bottle is 87% recycled glass. Then, when manufacturers make bottles, they have to make them to certain colour specifications; otherwise they are returned, melted down and remade. We took these bottles (193,000) and put our champagne in them, calling the project \u201c193,000 shades of green.\u201d So all Telmont bottles will be a slightly different shade of green. We then stopped shipping by air, which is 47 times more polluting than by road or sea.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Some
Some of the 193,000 shades of green
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We\u2019ve published all this in a guide that can be found on our website. We\u2019re not saying our project is perfect. We\u2019re taking it step by step, with a great deal of humility. We don\u2019t want to be carbon neutral, we want to have zero net emissions. In fact, Telmont is being studied by French universities for its various actions.      <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The
The bottle of R\u00e9serve Brut
Photo : Normand Boulanger | Gentologie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

NB<\/strong> :Coming back to the bottle itself, what\u2019s interesting is that they\u2019re all individually numbered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LdP<\/strong> :In fact, the front label of the product is Telmont\u2019s identity. As a customer, we want you to know how many bottles are produced. It\u2019s different whether you\u2019re making 40 million or 200,000. They are indeed individually numbered. Then, it\u2019s very important for us to show the sugar and the dosage. Every customer who buys a bottle of champagne should ask themselves this question about the sugar in the bottle. Today\u2019s customer is looking for a straightforward champagne that communicates information.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NB<\/strong> :If I go back to what we were talking about earlier, in the early 1900s, the agriculture that was practised was organic, so this return to the land is a return to the roots, isn\u2019t it
That\u2019s true. It was the two world wars that brought in all these chemical ingredients. Before that, there weren\u2019t any, and things worked just fine. We haven\u2019t reinvented the wheel; these are common sense decisions and good farming sense. At Telmont, we believe that wine is only as good as the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LdP<\/strong> : C\u2019est vrai. Ce sont ces deux guerres mondiales qui ont apport\u00e9 tous ces ingr\u00e9dients chimiques. Avant, il n\u2019y en avait pas, et \u00e7a fonctionnait tr\u00e8s bien. On n\u2019a pas r\u00e9invent\u00e9 la roue, ce sont des d\u00e9cisions de bon sens, de bon sens paysan. On pense, chez Telmont, que le vin est bon que si la terre est belle.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Harvest
Harvest in Damery
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

NB<\/strong> : When you head up a company like Telmont, the main shareholder, Groupe R\u00e9my Cointreau, has to ask you for figures, for a certain level of profitability, hasn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LdP<\/strong> :<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Laughs). I\u2019m a shareholder, and so is Leonardo DiCaprio. And we\u2019re aiming for positive growth. We\u2019re increasing production, of course. And all bottles will be numbered. I don\u2019t know whether we\u2019ll go to 500,000, 600,000 or more bottles tomorrow. But what I do know is that we\u2019re going to go at our own pace, while maintaining the same quality and transparency for customers who want to know what\u2019s going on. Our aim is not to make 10 million bottles tomorrow, but to make good champagne, without herbicides, pesticides or synthetic chemicals, while at the same time having a beneficial effect on the wine.     <\/span>  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NB<\/strong> :It really is a magnificent bottle, magnificent champagne, a different bubble, small and with so much energy at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Bertrand
Bertrand Lh\u00f4pital, Cellar Master and Aurore Guerlesquin, Assistant Cellar Master tasting Champagne Telmont from the barrel
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

LdP<\/strong> :Yes, there\u2019s all this texture that\u2019s there, that\u2019s present, that\u2019s very discreet, and this energy, as you say, is produced by the fact that it\u2019s very airy. It\u2019s not heavy, and that can be dangerous because one glass calls for a second, a third and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NB<\/strong> :On the other hand, it\u2019s good for sales (Laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The
The front of the building housing the Telmont champagne facilities.
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

LdP<\/strong> :(Laughing): Ah yes, but we\u2019re in the allocation phase, so we\u2019re cultivating several markets, including Japan, especially Kyoto. Kyoto has a significant potential market, but also values transparency, appreciates our label, and is interested in our sustainability-focused information. We\u2019re also in New York, Los Angeles and Miami. And Leonardo is very proud of what we do. He\u2019s not just there to put his name on it, he wants action from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we\u2019re entering Canada this autumn. I\u2019m very happy to be coming to Canada because we\u2019re in a country that\u2019s ahead of the rest of the world on environmental issues. And so, for me, it\u2019s a priority market, and I hope to be able to come there personally very soon to spread the good news. I think the market will be very receptive to Telmont\u2019s message and to this style of wine. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NB<\/strong> : <\/span>It\u2019s a champagne that comes from agriculture, but it\u2019s also an excellent champagne. Sometimes, some organic wines leave us a little thirsty, whereas that\u2019s not at all the case with Telmont champagne. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Harvesting
Harvesting grapes at Damery
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

LdP<\/strong> :In the end, over and over again, if the wine wasn\u2019t good at Telmont, we wouldn\u2019t be having this conversation. We have the Friends of Telmont, a kind of collective that is created around Telmont that people want to share. Among them is a sailor named Romain Pilliard, who bought Ellen MacArthur\u2019s trimaran and refurbished it according to the principles of the circular economy with a project called \u201cUse It Again\u201d and is sailing around the world. He called me and said, I want to have sustainable champagne that I can open when I cross the finish line at Cape Horn. I explain that I\u2019m not doing a sponsorship, and he says, I just want 3 half-bottles to celebrate sustainability, that\u2019s all. That\u2019s great, I said yes. There\u2019s also a treehouse resort in Japan called Treeful Tree Hous<\/a> that, again in the spirit of sustainability, serves our champagne. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Telmont
Telmont Champagne is the official champagne of the Cannes Film Festival
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As I mentioned, there\u2019s a Telmont collective around us. There are Michelin Green Star chefs, an association in New York called Chefs 4 Impact, a film festival called Cinema For Change, which features documentaries on the environment, fisherman Mathieu Chapel and all that. We get together every year at Telmont to exchange ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NB<\/strong> :It\u2019s interesting to see this movement come about naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The
The Members of the Telmont Collective
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

LdP<\/strong> :Yes, totally organically, as our wine is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NB<\/strong> :Getting back to Mr. DiCaprio, the fact that he\u2019s well known and committed to environmental causes shouldn\u2019t be a hindrance to spreading the word about Telmont champagne.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Ludovic
Ludovic du Plessis speaks at the first-ever Regenerative Organic Alliance forum in Europe, held at the Telmont Champagne House.
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

LdP<\/strong> :If it had been anyone else, we wouldn\u2019t have taken him on because, I repeat, this is not a celebrity champagne. He invests, not because of our friendship, but because the project is strong, and he wants to help us make changes. In Champagne, we\u2019re the enfants terribles, the ones who want to change things. And Leonardo is helping us to get that message across.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NB<\/strong> :Going back to the beginning, to the opening of the first bottle of Telmont champagne, how did it all happen for you?<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Bertrand
Bertrand Lh\u00f4pital and Ludovic du Plessis enjoying a tasting session
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

LdP<\/strong> :Actually, that\u2019s a good question, Normand. As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to buy a Champagne House. And I would only go if it ticked the four boxes I mentioned. I hoped the wines would please me. I went in, tasted, and, like you, had that effect of superb texture, lightness and lovely length on the palate and went \u201cwow\u201d! It was the R\u00e9serve Brut. Then I tasted the Ros\u00e9, the Blanc de Blancs, the Blanc de Noirs and they were all incredible, so I was convinced. And then, the great pride is to arrive at a restaurant like the l\u2019Oustau de Baumani\u00e8re<\/a> of Michelin-starred chef Glen Viel, and see his champagne there. It\u2019s the same when you go to a wine shop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NB<\/strong> :Speaking of pride, what makes you most proud to be a Telmont shareholder?<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Bertrand
Bertrand Lh\u00f4pital and Ludovic du Plessis in the vineyards of the Telmont champagne house.
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

LdP<\/strong> :There are two things that make me proud at Telmont Champagne House. There are 16 of us, 8 women and 8 men, and these people are happy because they are carrying out a project that makes sense, that gets things moving. And the second is to try things out and see that they work. We\u2019ve taken risks with gift boxes, the weight of the bottle, etc., and all these actions are being studied in all French universities, and that\u2019s a huge message for the new generation. And let\u2019s not forget that wine is good, and because it comes from the soil, it\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Photo
The Damery vineyard
Photo :Telmont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

NB<\/strong> : Thank you, Ludovic, for this interview and for your time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Telmont Champagne is available in Canada<\/p>\n\n\n\n