The evolution in wine-making techniques went hand in hand with that of vine growing. It displayed the same prudence that has always been characteristic of Champagne and which had been noted by Urbain and Jouron a century beforehand when they wrote: We are totally in agreement with practical and useful improvements, but Champagne's products have such a superior reputation that we consider the system which has brought glory, profit and fame to our country, as being like a sacred ark that should not be touched without a great deal of circumspection (629). Nonetheless, progress and research, such as the constant improvement of procedures and equipment were to enable Marc Brugnon, president of the vine-growers, to declare at the general meeting of the A.V.C. in 1979, that we may now consider that we are approaching totally reliable techniques and a precise definition of the processes involved.

   Barrels were gradually replaced by vats. In the early eighties several houses were still making and storing their wines in barrels, but by then this had become the exception. The large merchants' operations that had 10,000 to 20,000 barrels in their cellars between the two wars, did not have a single one by 1960. The two barrel making factories in Châlons and Ay closed their doors in 1950. There were still a hundred coopers in Florent-en-Argonne in 1939, but by 1980 there was only one.

   Clarification techniques improved with centrifugation and filtering becoming standard, but it was mainly in the field of temperature regulation that decisive results were achieved. Heating and cooling in cellars provided greater control over fermentation and ensured the production of wines with excellent stability. Automation progressed rapidly. The great workrooms were replaced by production lines for bottling, disgorgement, labelling. Machines that could fill 1,000 bottles per hour in 1914 have since increased to 5,000 to 6,000. Automatic disgorgement obliged crown tops to be adopted in 1964, after fifteen years of trials; a good example of the precautions that are taken before the adoption of a new procedure.

   The issue of remuage à la machine (mechanical turning of the bottles), which had been studied for more than a century, was finally resolved at the end of the seventies, when various systems, involving racks, pallets, and automatic or semi-automatic "turning containers", having been tested over the course of the sixties, began to give satisfactory results. In 1982 it was estimated that only one bottle in twenty was turned automatically, but it is likely that the pleasant sound of the bottles being expertly turned by hand in wooden racks will become increasingly rare. There will no doubt be a certain nostalgia amongst those who have practised remuage by hand, and amongst those who have witnessed it, but there is no denying that its mechanization represents progress, as is the case every time a machine reduces the efforts required by men and women.

    We have already seen that the search for a way to mechanize remuage began almost as soon as remuage itself was invented. Numerous patents have been filed⁴⁷ with this purpose, and Paccotet and Guittonneau wrote in 1918: Remuage is a costly, slow, delicate operation. And for a long time its mechanization has been sought in Champagne (460). They cite "turbine" systems and others using the agglomerating effect of electric currents which were tried and must have been abandoned due to their failure to provide satisfactory results. The procedures used today are, however, highly effective. They reduce labour, and, although the machines are expensive to buy, production costs are lower because they can run outside of working hours; they also enable considerable savings to be made in terms of space⁴⁸. Most important of all the process complied perfectly with "local and habitual usage" (c.f "Between the Wars"), thereby enabling the C.I.V.C. (Vine Growers and Champagne Houses) to make an unqualified declaration on July 1981, that the principles of production were not challenged. It specified for both manual and mechanical remuage, the precision and end result are identical; analyses and tastings have proved that there is no difference between the resulting wines provided, of course, that automatic remuage is carried out in the right conditions and that, notably the procedure is regularly monitored.

   The Journal du Vin of January 1979 very justly wrote: While the people of Champagne have always been cautious regarding new procedures that could affect the quality of the wine, they have also been quick to introduce any techniques that facilitate packing and handling operations. From as early as 1945, the cellars were equipped with lifts, fork-lift trucks and pallets; wood became scarce after the war and so wooden crates were replaced with cardboard boxes that were not only cheap and light but provided an opportunity to advertise. Cardboard was also used increasingly inside boxes and crates, competing with plastic from the sixties onwards.

   All of this progress simplified the tasks of the cellar workers, eliminating some of the less pleasant jobs, while at the same time enabling economies to be made in terms of labour. In 1980 the ratio was just one cellar worker per 40,000 to 50,000 bottles, whereas in 1950 it was still as high as one per 6,000 bottles. These figures demonstrate very clearly the extent to which production techniques have evolved.

    The range of bottle sizes increased. The double magnum, which had appeared in the nineteenth century, became known as a Jeroboam. Towards the end of the forties, and particularly in the fifties, these were joined by triple magnums or Rehoboams and quadruple magnums or Methuselahs.  There were also occasional Salmanazars, Balthazars and even Nebuchadnezzars ⁴⁹, which contained the equivalent of six, eight and ten magnums respectively; these very large bottles were soon abandoned, but production of Salmanazars started again in 1973.

   The reason why biblical names were chosen for these larger sizes is unknown. The term Jeroboam appears to have been used in Bordeaux from around 1725. Adopted in Champagne, the other bottles were probably named simply by analogy with the first in the series. Jeroboam was the founder and first king of the kingdom of Israel at the beginning of the first millennium before Christ. It is curious to note that Eustache Deschamps lists Jeroboam, Roboan (Roboam or Rehoboam) and Balthazar in his Balade MCCXLIX. As for the explanation of why Jeroboam was chosen by the wine-makers of Bordeaux, perhaps the answer lies in the Bible, in which Jeroboam is described as a man of great value; a jeroboam of Château Latour is undoubtedly a bottle of great value!

   During the sixties a number of bottles appeared that differed from the classic champagne style, which were designed for cuvées spéciales (special blends), following the example of Dom Pérignon, which was launched in an eighteenth century style bottle by Moët & Chandon⁵⁰ in the United States in 1937 with the vintages of 1921, 1928 and 1929,  in Belgium in 1947, and then in France in 1949 with the vintages of 1934 and 1937. Gradually, most of the champagne houses created a cuvée de prestige, with or without a special bottle, and some of the vine-growers did the same. The range of champagnes available thus became wider.

   The dosage of wines moved very strongly in the direction of less sugar. Doux (sweet) disappeared and the average proportion of brut and extra-dry champagnes, which was still only 50% in 1945, gradually rose to 90%. Champagnes even appeared that had not been dosed at all. However, some countries remained more attached than others to heavily dosed champagnes. This was the case in Belgium, where the percentage of imports of sec and demi-sec was still at 85% in 1945 and 20% in the seventies. In 1980 federal Germany, the Netherlands and Venezuela respectively imported 29%, 44% and 46% of sec and demi-sec.

   As for vintages, blancs de blancs (made with white grapes), crémants and pink champagnes, they continued to find favour amongst champagne lovers, but non-vintage has remained the backbone of production. There have been some exceptional vintages, notably 1947, 1955, 1964, and 1973, with some people also including 1961 and 1975. Here is a list, up to 1983, of the all the years in which a vintage was generally declared since the start of Second World War: 1941, 1943, 1945, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1979. Some houses also produced a vintage in 1974 and 1978. In 1983, the wines of 1980, 1981 and 1982 seemed likely to be declared vintages, but since 1980 and 1981 were both years in which the production was comparatively small, there is little chance that this will occur on a large scale.

THE VINE-GROWERS

  From 1950 onwards the vine-growers played a major role in champagne's progress, both as sellers of grapes and as récoltants-manipulants. Very fortunately, the vineyards were able to invest in equipment during a period when, as we have seen, champagne was selling well. As s result the vine growers could, for the first time in history, afford to invest and improve their standard of living.

   The work force remained stable, and even increased slightly. Numbering 13,300 in 1958, there were 14,200 vine growers in 1982, however, for 54% of them vine-growing was a secondary activity. The average area of vines for each grower increased from 0.75 hectares (a little less than two acres) in 1958 to one hectare (2.47 acres) in 1982, whereas, in the same year, for vine -growers relying solely on vines for their income, it rose to two and half hectares (just over six acres). The number of vineyards with an area equal to or greater than two hectares increased from 535 in 1950 to 3,607 in 1982, of which 582 had an area greater than five hectares, against ninety in 1950. This reflected the social changes that took place over the course of a generation, and signalled the end of the disenchantment with vines that had been developing amongst the young vine-growers of Champagne.

   At the same time, the vineyards' independence from the merchants became considerably more marked. Areas of vines cultivated increased between 1958 and 1982 by 33% for the merchants but by 125% for the vine-growers, encouraged by the social policy that was followed concerning  the granting of authorizations for planting and the intervention of the Société d'Aménagement Foncier et d'Etablissement Rural (S.A.F.E.R.). Over the same period, sales of champagne for the merchants increased fourfold, while those for the vine-growers increased eightfold. Manipulation (growing grapes and producing champagne) played a decisive role in this. The number of récoltants-manipulants, having stood at 1,300 just before the Second World War, had already increased to 3,000 in 1968 and to nearly 5,000 twenty years later. During the forties their sales totalled around three million bottles. These rose to seven and a half million in 1958, ten million in 1960, twenty-six million in 1970 and nearly sixty-one million in 1980! By 1982 the vine-growers were responsible for a third of all champagne production and, as we have already noted, supplied half of the French market, against only 13% in 1960.

   In these figures are included the sales of the cooperatives which, with the support of the government and Champagne's interprofessional organizations, had risen considerably. From 1947, the state offered to finance 20% of new construction and the C.I.V.C. (Vignerons et Maisons de Champagne) also contributed towards set-up costs. During the sixties aid increased, to the extent that a project could be financed up to 80% by grants. A new cooperative would thus be given grants for a substantial part of its installation costs, and be eligible for a loan from the Crédit Agricole for the rest. By 1950 there were already fifty-two cooperatives; rising to 120 in 1965 and 145 by 1980. Amongst these were powerful regional cooperatives, and unions of cooperatives, which assembled the production of local cooperatives.

   A very large union of cooperatives, the Centre Vinicole de la Champagne, was created in Chouilly, near Epernay, in 1971. Its members include five regional cooperatives, sixty-three local cooperatives and twenty individuals, representing  4,000 vine growers, cultivating 1,200 hectares spread over 150 crus. It has storage capacity for 80,000 hectolitres and, in a normal year, produces six million bottles of champagne (three different blends offer a range of quality), four million of which are then returned to members. It is equipped with the latest technology, including a system for the analysis of musts as they arrive in tankers that allows forty analyses per hour. In May 1983, in order to further develop its sales,  it became associated with the Berger group, outside Champagne.

   Since 1950 the vine-growers purchasing power has been maintained in both good and bad years, despite inflation, due to the almost continual increase in the price of grapes (30%, allowing for inflation, between 1962 and 1979) combined with improved yields, without forgetting, for the récoltants-manipulants, the added value of the finished product.

THE MERCHANTS

   The merchants continued to display the dynamism that had been responsible for the meteoric rise of champagne in the nineteenth century and which enabled, in combination with that of the vine-growers, the prodigious growth that took place between 1950 and 1980. As a result of active and enterprising leadership the champagne houses adopted a semi-industrial strategy. Open-cut excavation work was carried out to create multi-level cellars, spectacular vat rooms were installed, and disgorgement and labelling became totally automated. Thus while the quality and character of each brand was preserved, productivity was improved, thereby enabling production costs to be kept down and sale prices to be maintained at a level that would not hinder the continuous growth of the market.

   The merchants planted vines in accordance with decreed limits, but this did not enable them to increase the size of their vineyards as much as they needed to in order to respond to demand. It thus became increasingly difficult during this period of expansion to obtain enough grapes, particularly as the merchants were now in competition with the récoltants-manipulants. These purchases were costly, not only due to premium prices during shortages, but also as a result of the progressive narrowing of the scale of crus. Furthermore, some merchants, in order to improve their stocks, were obliged to take the expensive risk of buying vin sur lattes (wine that had already been dosed and was in bottles awaiting disgorgement).

    While growth in the merchants' trade was spectacular, it was also unevenly distributed. Several new houses were created during the early twentieth century outside of the main areas and have achieved fame, such as René Brun, Collery and Gosset in Ay, Oudinot in Avize, Brice-Martin-Tritant in Bouzy, Gardet in Chigny, Legras in Chouilly, Gobillard in Pierry, amongst others. They generally have their origins in a vine-growing tradition, sometimes of very long date, such as the Gosset family, whose ascendants cultivated vines in Ay in the sixteenth century. However, some houses, both old and new, in general of modest size, saw their businesses grow very little, sometimes stagnating or even shrinking. Several ceased trading, especially between 1956 and 1964, a period during which forty-five businesses either closed their doors or were absorbed. With few exceptions these were small houses, whose disappearance was compensated for in the seventies by the creation of new ones, to such an extent that between 1945 and 1980 the number of négociants exploitants only decreased by 20%.

   In contrast, the larger houses grew rapidly, six of them achieving, during the ten years between 1969 and 1979, growth of more than 200%, one of these alone selling eighteen million bottles in 1978. The gap widened between the ten largest houses and the rest of the Négoce. This leading group, representing less than 10% of all the houses, and the members of which remained more or less constant, accounted for an increasing percentage of the merchants' sales, rising from 46% in 1955, to 55% in 1959 and then, after flattening off between 1959 and 1967, continuing up to 71% in 1979 and 76% in 1982. These were the houses which, on the basis of an already substantial trade, were able to best reconcile fame, productivity, financing, and price and market strategy.

   On the individual scale, a family structure sometimes had to be modified, or even abandoned, to make way for larger companies, some of which have raised capital by offering shares to the general public. However, many houses have retained a family style management and, as in the nineteenth century, there have been some remarkable women at the head of several of these at certain periods during the twentieth century.

This was certainly true in the case of Madame Olry-Roederer who, having taken over from her husband, Léon Olry-Roederer, in 1932 , ran the business for many years with great dynamism and authority, and caused the brand to become very solidly established in Sweden. Then there were the instances of Madame Claude Rouzaud (daughter of Madame Olry-Roederer),  of Madame Boizel, already mentioned in the section on the contribution made by champagne merchants of foreign origin, of Madame Chayoux, at Ayala and De Montebello, of the Baroness of Alès, at Piper-Heidsieck, of Madame Abel Lepitre, at Abel Lepitre, of Madame d'Anglemont de Tassigny, at Jacquesson, and of Madame Mérand at De Castellane. Madame Bollinger personally ran the house that bears her name, with great authority and competence, from 1941 to 1977,  deciding blends herself, and extending the excellent reputation of her brand even further.

   The thirty-five years following the Second World War saw fairly numerous and sometimes spectacular mergers, either involving the taking over of a brand and the retention of its character, or simple absorption, a phenomenon that also took place sporadically between the wars.

   Over the same period some of the larger houses, finding themselves unable to expand their activities due to limitations on the availability of grapes, started to diversify into the production of sparkling wines outside Champagne, and even in California, and also into perfumes, haute couture, hotels, etc. As H. Pestel, the director of the I.N.A.O. (Institut National des Appellations d'Origine) declared on 26 November 1966 at a talk given at the general meeting of the A.V.C.: The producers of A.O.C. wines whose need or desire for further expansion is unlimited must satisfy this passion not with never-ending growth in the sales and production of their appellation, but rather by complementing them with other products.

   There have also been cases, from just before the Second World War onwards, of small old houses expanding rapidly into large, sometimes even very large, businesses as a result of the energy of new management, and restructuring programs. The house of Fourneaux which dates back to 1734, was taken over by Taittinger, in Rheims, in 1932, and very quickly became well-known; with its turnover in constant progression it was eventually floated on the stock exchange. Veuve Laurent-Perrier, in Tours-sur-Marne, of old but modest origins, having changed hands in 1938, become a large house of great quality, in continual expansion. Besserat de Bellefon, starting out as the house of Besserat, founded in Ay in the middle of the nineteenth century, joined the Compagnie Générale Dubonnet-Cinzano group in 1959, combined with the house of Salon, regrouped near the southern exit of Rheims, and then in 1976 joined the Pernod-Ricard group, finally absorbing another house of Besserat, Edouard Besserat, in 1981. There is one last category, consisting of houses dating from between the wars and immediately after the Second World War that have gained an important place within the industry. In this category may be listed: Trouillard et Cie, which was founded in 1919, and took over the excellent and old house,  de Venoge; Abel Lepitre, which was founded in 1924 and then expanded during the fifties, helped by a merger with George Goulet and De Saint-Marceaux, both solid brands with long-standng reputations; Marne et Champagne, which was founded in 1933, and became a very large organization, managing a hundred brands, some of which also originated from traditional houses such as Giesler, Gauthier, and Geismann; A. Charbaut et Fils, which was founded in 1948, and very quickly gained an enviable position both in France and abroad, including the difficult American market. Despite these notable changes, the overall impression of the champagne houses is one of striking continuity, a continuity made even more remarkable considering that they have doubled their sales in fourteen years.

A CONCLUSION TO THE HISTORY OF CHAMPAGNE

   When one considers all the obstacles that have been overcome during the last century and a half one can only pay homage to all the professionals, merchants and vine-growers. Their concerted efforts created, and then maintained and developed, the incredible success of champagne and have had the result that Champagne has been the wine producing region that has grown the most, in terms of area, production and sales, between 1950 and 1980 in France. The crises of the seventies did, however, show that a certain prudence was necessary amongst the businesses making up Champagne's wine-producing economy. Here is what Claude d'Hautefeuille, president of the Syndicat de Grandes Marques de Champagne, had to say on the matter at the meeting of the Syndicat Général des Vignerons de la Champagne Délimitée in the spring of 1974: Our objective should not be triumphant, uncontrolled progress, but rather the measure of a market that we must plan according to realities.

   The task of those responsible has never been easy in this domain: during periods of growth, success can become intoxicating and the reversal of trends then deals a harsh blow.  Following the harvests of 1978 and 1980, which, as has already been noted, were disappointing in terms of quantity, here are the words of Marc Brugnon, president of the vine-growers, at the A.V.C.'s banquet in 1981: Champagne is very much a product of mother nature. We have been reminded of this twice in three years. In consequence, our activities will always be subject to her whims, her variations, and her accidents; the organisation of our activities and our economy, must, of course, take this into account. Jean-Michel Ducellier, president of the merchants, declared at the same banquet: This crisis is serious, without doubt the most serious that we have ever known, but we will survive and success will soon return, for one must never despair in Champagne.

   In reality, as Jean Piérard pointed out in the C.I.V.C. (Vignerons et Maisons de Champagne)'s Bulletin d'Information for the fourth quarter of 1979, under its brilliant exterior, wine-producing Champagne is usually obliged to live dangerously, half way between fragility and uncertainty. While it is true that the harvests of 1982 and 1983 have been reassuring, the eighties have brought, amongst other things, shortages in stocks, recession of sales and exceptional taxes that have aggravated the effects of a tax system that is not suited to wine production. However, as we have just seen, it will take more than that to damage the morale of the vine-growers and merchants of Champagne. The history of champagne (in which there have already been more chapters since the publication of this book!), displays a dynamism, and a facility to adapt that, combined with excellent  interprofessional organisation, have created a success that is very far from ending.