Let's face it - tightening budgets, more unpredictable weather and increased costs of production worldwide had made caring for the environment a non-priority "good to have", and understandably so. With budgets, salaries and slim profit margins to contend with, any effort that goes towards leaving a lighter carbon footprint should be commended.

Source: Telmont Champagne

However, it's a whole new game to center your entire production around eco-consciousness; a bold undertaking by Telmont Champagne that makes a brave statement for their brand: "In the Name of Mother Nature." So, what's caught the eye of nature-loving, climate activist Leonardo DiCaprio and beverage giant Rémy-Cointreau to have a stake in the champagne house?

Leonardo DiCaprio and President of Maison Telmont Ludovic du Plessis. Source: Telmont Champagne

The story of Maison Telmont began during a tumultuous time for Champagne. It was the early 20th century: the harvest of the Champagne region had been hit particularly bad by years of unfavourable weather and the phylloxera epidemic was starting to take root within the region. Champagne houses circumvented the terrible harvest by importing grapes from regions outside of Champagne and even from neighbouring countries like Spain and Germany.

France's railway expansion from 1850 onwards made it easy for champagne houses to obtain grapes from other regions and abroad. Source: Schwartz et al (2011)

Vine growers were frustrated at the collapse of their industry - the strained relationship between vine growers champagne producers over "fake champagne" reached a boiling point. The Champagne riots in 1910 and 1911 saw  champagne houses ransacked, trucks carrying wine grapes from other regions intercepted and general violence that Paris sent 40,000 troops to control the situation.

The aftermath of the Champagne Riots. Source: Wikipedia

Henri Lhôpital then composed the famous song "Gloire au Champagne", urging wine producers to uphold the quality and high standards that made champagne so famous to begin with. In 1912, Henri went on to establish a maison under his name, which he passed on to his son, André Lhôpital. Currently, 4th generation Bertrand Lhôpital serves as Telmont's Cellar Master & Vineyard Director.

In 1937, André would join the 2nd Regiment Cuirassiers [2e régiment de cuirassiers], the oldest cavalry regiment in France. The insignia is honoured in the Telmont logo.

Now, let's talk about Telmont's deep commitment to ecological consciousness. Only 3% of Champagne's vineyards are certified organic - the truth of the matter is, with Champagne's unique climate and terroir, most vineyard grows face mildew, hail, rain, alongside a whole host of other pests (not helped with the cold temperatures too!). As if going full organic isn't already difficult enough, there are length bureaucratic practices that go into assuring vineyard owners get the right certifications.

Source: Telmont Champange

That, however, clearly did not stop Telmont, and the house has made leaps and bounds towards net zero. In 2017, Telmont has acquired organic certification for some plots of vineyard, with Telmont releasing their first organic cuvée, the Réserve de la Terre, in 2021. The ambitions don't stop there however, with plans to have the entire estate vineyard certified organic by 2025.

It's wholly impressive how much research and work went into tracing the sources of the champagne house's carbon emissions: a whole 46 page deck to boot! Do take particular note of how glass alone accounts for more than a quarter of emissions.

To me, the real kicker was tackling one of the most damaging sources of pollution that has been plaguing the spirits industry: glass bottles. Starting from sand dredging, firing up the glass bottles up over a thousand degree Celsius, to transporting the heavy cargo is nothing short of polluting.

The schematics of a standard champagne bottle, featured in Telmont's Jan 2023 sustainability guide when they declared they are moving away from bespoke bottles.

So, what's Telmont done about it? Quite a lot actually! Working with glass producer Verallia, Telmont no longer uses transparent glass bottles, which uses 0% recycled glass. All of the champagne bottles come from 85% green recycled glass, which are themselves 100% recyclable.

Last year, Telmont and Verallia made the achievement of creating the lightest champagne bottle: coming in at 800 grams, 35 grams lighter than the average industry standard. 35 grams doesn't sound like much, but given that champagne bottles need to be sturdy enough to withstand the internal pressure of carbonation; and factoring in that 4% of carbon emissions is saved using less glass, on top of transportation emissions in the thousands of bottles, the seemingly measly reduction stacks pretty quickly.

Source: PR Newswire

This year, Telmont has debuted using bottles dubbed "193,000 Shades of Green". The house has opted to use "transition" glass bottles, where the colour of glass bottles are in between those that are brown and green that do not meet colour standards of other houses. As a cherry on top, Telmont has opted to not include any superfluous or ostentatious packaging, whilst using only sea freight to ship their bottles.

Maison Telmont has also committed to planting cover crops and supporting shrubs to improve biodiversity. Source: @champagnetelmont

Most of Telmont's electrical needs come from renewable sources, with plans to expand organic certification to all vine growing partners by 2031. The plan for Telmont is to be net positive by 2050. With these ambitions, it's no wonder the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio were eager to be on board.

Telmont Réserve Brut - Tasting Notes

You'll also notice that Telmont breaks the mould of Champagne labels: the labels are rich in information giving details about the grapes, disgorgement, vintage and the like. For this particular expression, the disgorgement was done in 2022, containing 31% Chardonnay, 53% Meunier, and 16% Pinot Noir, with 5g/l of dosage.  

Nose: Aromas of lightly toasted puff pastry alongside caramel peaches: imagine a slightly warmed up peach danish pastry. On further nosings, you start to get a rather bready aroma, with a mix of brioche and Scottish shortbread. As it sits, the fruitier aromas start to surface more, reminding me of the peels of green pear.

Taste: The effervescence is very gentle: letting up a smooth stream on the palate. You get chewsome pomme fruits here: something akin to Granny Smith apples, tart pears, and slightly underripe lime in terms of acidity. Letting it stay on the palate a bit more, you start to get sourdough bread and untoasted baguette, flavours that are more lactic in nature.

Finish: The tartness remains quite long into the finish, you still get much of that green apple, pear and a slight lime zest. You don't get much of the pastries here anymore, but instead, a stony quality; slightly saline and mineral in character.

My Thoughts

Bright, refreshing, and a perfect opener for the evening. The bubbles are friendly, making a fine mousse on the palate. I do have to note that the champagne leans a lot more towards the tart, lactic side of things, which makes it a great pairing for light appertisers, table bread and butter, or charcuterie.

Telmont Réserve Rosé - Tasting Notes

What we have here is a rosé champagne, with the disgorgement being done in 2022. It's made with 87% Chardonnay and 13% Meunier, with 5.9 g/L dosage.  

Nose: The nose reminds me of light raspberry jam, especially so on the tart, homemade style with less sugar, being spread on brioche toast. There is a deep homemade cranberry sauce aroma as well, the tart, almost astringently sour fragrance that comes from frozen cranberries being cooked before the addition of sugar and spices.

Taste: Again, the effervescence is not very aggressive, keeping to a smooth bubbling on the palate. The favours here are still very much tart and malic, giving green apples and pears, but is backed with stone fruit flavours of white peach, red plums, and even red berries like dried cranberries and redcurrant. I don't get much sourdough bread flavours here, but moreso shokupan and white toast.

Finish: A slight puckering on the finish, like red berry skins, unsweetened compote, cherry jelly. The red sour fruits make a return, like sour raspberry candy, red cherries, and a bit of plum skins.

My Thoughts

I absolutely loved how well the red fruit flavours integrated together with the base champagne notes. The tart red berry flavours blend seamlessly with the more malic, green pomme fruit flavours, giving the champagne a bit more boldness and texture, resulting in a fuller experience.

Pairing it with the fresh oyster, the champagne could've easily served as a substitute for mignonette! I would think that for this champagne, it'll go well with most light entrees, chicken dishes, and shellfish dishes.

Telmont Réserve de la Terre - Tasting Notes

The Réserve de la Terre is the crowning achievement of Telmont, being made with 100% organic grapes, translating to "of the Earth". The disgorgement was done in 2022, with 24% Chardonnay, 44% Meunier and 22% Pinot Noir and 2.5g/L dosage. 

Nose: The nose is quite deep and confectionery, reminding me very distinctively of lemon radler beers. On subsequent nosings, I get some lemon zest, lemon drizzled sponge cake, and a slight hint of fresh honeysuckle blossoms. It becomes more confectionery the more it sits, giving sugar cookies, refined white sugar and creamed butter.

Taste: The champagne is more bodied and syrupy here, giving much more biscuit flavours. I get lemony flavours still, but this time, with a more oven baked character, akin to oven roasted lemons or lemon cream crackers. At the nose, the lemon drizzle tea cake comes to mind, accompanied with a side of juicy green apples that lean on the sweeter side.

Finish: The lemon radler flavour makes a return, giving a macerated zest flavour that is somewhat akin to lemon-barley cordial. Surprisingly, I got more tart flavours at the finish here, giving green apple peels and gooseberry. The fruitiness does linger quite a while here, leaving more sappy astringent flavours at the tail end.

My Thoughts

Definitely a notch more full bodied and sweet than the former two bottlings. You still get a good acidity from this champagne, though it is coupled with a lot more creaminess and dessert. To make a direct comparison with the Réserve Brut, opt for the former if you require a leaner, fresher and greener pick. If you're looking for more texture and depth of sweet flavour, perhaps that something that could hold its ground with more robust dishes or as an end-of-a-meal dessert, I'll say opt for the de la Terre.

Conclusion

Personally, the Rosé is my favourite amongst the trio. It pleases the best of both worlds, offering crisp champagne that is tart and bready, whilst giving you a delectable host of red fruits and berries that offer just a bit of tannins to complete the experience. In general, the Telmont champagnes are made to be drunk youthful to best enjoy the lively, bright freshness and tartness. It does hover around the lighter side, hence pairing this with summertime dishes or cold cuts during an apero could be lovely.

I was also pleased to know that Telmont's champanges aren't exactly very pricey either, drinking by the glass or by the bottle at Bayside Drink & Eats. It's impressive that despite all the green initiatives, the costs aren't quite passed down to us consumers wholesale, proving that there is much potential and merit in pursuing greener practices. I'll be rooting for Telmont's sustainability goals on the side, and who knows! Problem solving comes innovation, and we may just see some changes in the industry with each breakthrough or new practice being adopted.

@vernoncelli