FROM VINES TO PLEASURE

Grape production:
From planting vinestocks to collecting grape juice

1. Work in the vineyard

     Each Champagne House with vines looks for the cultivation method best suited to its needs. Quality is, of course, the most important thing at stake, followed by technical and financial considerations. However, we must not forget that each of these Houses is also trying to develop work ethics. Thus, 11% of the AOC vineyards held by the Houses are evidence to the diversity of cultivation methods used to enhance the value: piecework contracts, sharecropping or service provision. These three different methods all seem, by their diversity, to satisfy managers and vine-growers.

Taittinger transforms the obligation to be present into the obligation to achieve results

     For Vincent Collard, manager of the Taittinger vineyards, managing vineyards is part of a correct and balanced equation. In 1990, with this objective in mind, the House worked with its employees to reshape the classic piecework contract, which had an old-fashioned image. This initiative was carried out by the employees themselves. They hoped to work with a greater degree of autonomy than when in a team and at the same time, wished to break free from the constraints associated with the old contracts.      Out of this collective thinking came a new piecework contract, which today seems to please both employers and employees.
     The new pieceworkers are responsible, on average, for three hectares, which they look after following an annual programme of work established by the management.
     Each task is paid for according to a pre-established scale. For example, together they have calculated the time necessary (outside the harvest) for the annual maintenance of a vinestock. A fixed payment corresponds to this time, and the pieceworker, responsible for his own work timetable, organises the various activities to his own liking. His only obligations are: to respect a particular annual planning and to end up with the best possible grape quality (respecting the job specifications and the quality of work).

Free to work flexitime!

		This system gives pieceworkers a greater freedom to manage their time. Francis Hautcoeur, a pieceworker since 1990, is happy to be able to collect his children from school every evening, and Vincent Collard underlines the more comfortable lifestyle that this contract gives female employees, who can choose a contract "à la carte", either full or part-time.
F. Hautcoeur works at Taittinger with full autonomy

     This system also gives the vine-grower the ability to make a more personal commitment to his work. Francis Hautcoeur says, "My honour as a vine-grower is at stake with the piecework contract. I am responsible for the harvest". This contract increases the autonomy but also the responsibilities, because a pieceworker who does not comply with the regulations of the contract can see it questioned. Vincent Collard controls the development of this method of enhancing value and considers it is a way of ensuring better quality, because it replaces the obligation to be present by the obligation to achieve results. Today, Taittinger has over fifty pieceworkers who work autonomously over two-thirds of the estate.

Pol Roger: a particular philosophy of work

     Since 1960, sharecropping has become a true institution at Pol Roger. Today, seventy sharecroppers are responsible for the eighty-five hectares of vines. Maurice and Georges Pol-Roger felt that wine-merchants knew how to make fine wine and that vine-growers knew how to grow very good grapes; naturally, this tradition endures. With this cultivation method, young vine-growers can set themselves up and the quality of the supplies is never at fault.

Currently, twenty-two young vine-growers in their thirties work as sharecroppers with Pol Roger. Céline Meunier and Franck Chesnel, a young couple of sharecroppers did not have the means to afford their own plantation. For them, this system is the chance to set themselves up and work with vines. In effect, Pol Roger finances all of the installation costs and the necessary plants. Franck stresses the point that although this system allows them to work with total autonomy, they know that if there is a problem, Pol Roger will be there to advise them on the choice of treatment or any purchases. Franck specifies, "Until the third leaf appears, we work closely together to get the maximum out of our parcels. The assistance from the House is very valuable to us".
		E. De Billy perpetuates a lively, sharecropping tradition with Céline and Franck

Uniting common interests

     The leases signed with the House Pol Roger often last thirty years and cover up to two hectares of land. Évelyne de Billy, vineyard manager, finds that this system allows them to unite common interests. The sharecroppers give a third of their harvest to the House Pol Roger and sell them the remaining two-thirds as well as part of the production from their personal vines. They integrate the sharecropping into their estate and cultivate its vines with the same care. "These vines are almost our own" says Céline, who took over her parents' lease and appreciates the freedom to cultivate the vines as she chooses. Sharecroppers' children often take over their leases, thus maintaining a tradition and keeping a family atmosphere in these estates. Moreover, for the House Pol Roger, this system of giving one third ("tiers franc") ensures a harvest of grapes from twenty different growing areas and therefore gives the wine a great potential of aromas. By sharing a common aim with her sharecroppers, Évelyne de Billy defines a true philosophy of work, which relies on confidence, communication and teamwork, all in an atmosphere of great respect and mutual friendship.

Delahaie: a deal for the future

     Jacky Brochet, vineyard manager at Delahaie, has chosen, for the last eight years, to use the services supplied by Christian Herbay. For Jacky Brochet, this choice is based on the willingness to work differently. Today, it is true that, we can no longer be both a specialist and be versatile in all fields. Turning to a specialised service supplier allows us to call on a truly professional vineyard worker. It is necessary to obtain the consent of the regional agriculture and forest management body in order to set yourself up as a supplier of services. This can be based either on experience or on recognised diplomas.

		Of course Jacky Brochet remains the manager of his vineyards but he has built a united work team with, Christian Herbay, his unique service supplier. Together they choose the best method of caring for his vineyards. For the House Delahaie, this practice avoids a heavy investment in terms of equipment and at the same time takes away all of the technical problems. Furthermore, it avoids all concerns about the introduction of the 35 hour-week and all of the social conflicts that can arise in a company. For Jacky Brochet, this choice is resolutely directed towards the future and will develop more and more in the Champagne Houses, just as it has developed amongst the vine-growers.
J. Brochet combines the competence and equipment of C. Herbay

     This system also lets the wine-merchant devote more time to other tasks, such as export sales and all other House management activities. Jacky Brochet adds, "it is also a plus for my private life, which I can organise more freely".

Take risks to progress...

     All the same, this choice is not without risk and Jacky Brochet stresses that the harvest's final yield depends largely on the service supplier. And it is exactly this "thrill" of risk that pushed Christian Herbay to leave his job as an employee and set himself up as a free-lance worker. For him, this choice combines two desires: firstly, to be more independent in his work and secondly, to develop a more personal relationship with his clients. Christian Herbay works with his only son. Together they look after almost thirty clients (vineyard owners), either from time to time or more regularly as with Delahaie, with which he has signed an annual contract for the last eight years. It is a truly "moral contract", for Jacky Brochet, service supplying is a risky commitment, but faced with the progress of time, you need to know how to make a choice based on confidence and modernity.

Philippe Gaudin