What marketing strategies should Champagne winegrowers adopt in 2026?
As part of the 4th Sparkling Wine Forum on 19 May 2026 in Reims, Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze gave a presentation on the various business models adopted by Champagne winegrowers.
The categorisation of Champagne winegrowers
The study presented by Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze at the 4th Sparkling Wine Forum focuses on the classification of Champagne winegrowers, with an update on the situation as it has evolved over time. Furthermore, this presentation ties in with the theme of the 2026 Sparkling Wine Forum, which was ‘to highlight the rapidly evolving competitive landscape for the wine sector in general, but also for sparkling wines’. The full study will be published in a collective work entitled “Wine Management and Marketing 3”, to be published by ISTE late 2026.
“The economic success of the champagne industry during the second half of the 20th century was based, in particular, on a form of balance between the economic players in the vineyard (winegrowers, cooperatives) and the champagne houses. One of these groups operates upstream in the industry and the other downstream, thereby creating a balance.”
According to the lecturer and researcher, one of the key sources of bargaining power for winegrowers in this balance of power was their presence in the downstream sector of the industry. However, over the last twenty years or so, Champagne winegrowers appear to have been withdrawing from the downstream sector. According to Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze, “I think that if we project the current situation over the long term, there could be fewer and fewer Champagne winegrowers acting as shippers. These players would then lose a significant part of their bargaining power vis-à-vis the wine merchants, as they would be entirely dependent on the latter’s purchases of grapes. As the houses are larger and fewer in number, they will have greater bargaining power over the price per kilo of grapes.”
In Champagne, the current balance prevents these houses from unilaterally dictating the price of grapes and the terms of supply contracts. So, if winegrowers do not secure favourable terms for their grapes, they may decide to move further down the supply chain and expand their sales of champagne. “If this commercial network is lost, winegrowers will have no choice but to accept the houses’ terms and will lose their bargaining power.” It was this concern that prompted Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze to carry out this study, which categorises winegrowers who sell directly. The aim was to identify the business models that are performing well in the current competitive environment and to identify those that are losing momentum.
3 types of winegrowers and 3 business models
This study has identified three types of Champagne winegrowers who export their produce.
‘Traditional winegrowers’, who fit the classic mould of the old-school winegrower and are sometimes also farmers, established before the 2000s. They are also the ones with the smallest vineyard areas and the least expensive wines. These traditional winegrowers are currently losing ground due to a system that does not seem to be in step with the new market dynamics. According to the study, they account for the lowest share of export sales, at just 6%. According to Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze, “traditional winegrowers are certainly less well equipped to cope with a situation that is now less favourable to them.”
The second type of winegrower identified is the ‘pioneers’, who are the most active in wine tourism, at 39 per cent. They also export their wine and produce the highest-valued bottles. During her research, Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze found that fewer of them have seen an increase in sales over the last ten years, compared to the third category. Although the pioneers appear to have a good level of valuation, they are not the ones who report having increased their sales figures the most over the last 10 years. They have seen growth of just 53%, the same as the “traditionalists”.
‘Retailers’ are winegrowers who have adopted a more agile and flexible business model. They are the group that has seen the greatest increase, with sales up 63% in volume over the last 10 years. “I was quite surprised to find that more ‘retailers’ have seen an increase in sales volume over the last ten years than ‘pioneers’; I intuitively thought that the ‘pioneers’ had a more promising business model. ’ Following the same model as the ‘pioneers’, the ‘retailers’ are also developing wine tourism; indeed, 29% of them report organising wine tourism activities. 72% of them are primarily producers, but 58% report also being cooperative members. Their price range is mid-range, with entry-level bottles selling for €20 and bottles costing up to €38 including VAT.
The export paradox
Exporting is a good way to boost growth for those in the wine industry, but it is important not to write off the French market. According to Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze: “We must not simply resign ourselves to accepting France’s decline. In France, we still drink sparkling wine; we love good products and treating ourselves – we are epicureans. What’s more, we are fortunate to be the world’s leading tourist destination; Paris is the most visited city in the world, and Champagne is just 45 minutes away by TGV.” Every player has a way of keeping the French sector alive. But Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze warns, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to export products that represent French luxury if the French themselves aren’t consuming them.”
Wine tourism is also an excellent way of attracting tourists to Champagne. “They come, they have a wonderful time, and they enjoy the wine.” Tourists will remember this experience and want to come back to buy the wines they tasted.
Other research topics
Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze s’intéresse également à d’autres sujets de recherche comme la perception des consommateurs face à un logo expérimental sur une bouteille de champagne, en collaboration avec d’autres chercheurs d’autres universités françaises. Cette étude leur permet de mesurer le lien entre luxe et environnement dans l’esprit des consommateurs à partir de variables comme la qualité perçue, le luxe perçu, l’esthétique perçue, le consentement à payer et l’intention d’achat.
Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze’s second research project focuses on product placement in audiovisual media as a communication technique, in collaboration with a researcher from the University of Orléans. Indeed, the Evin Law is increasingly restricting the ability of major champagne houses to advertise in France.
To get round this restriction, companies place products in successful films and TV series. In the past, several studies on product placement had already been carried out, but only in films and not in TV series. The two researchers therefore focused on the series ‘Emily in Paris’, which features a great deal of product placement involving bottles of champagne; the aim was to observe how the placements are introduced and which brands are featured.
Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze then interviewed champagne producers featured in the series and viewers who had watched it, asking them which brands they remembered in order to understand under what conditions product placement can be effective.
The latest research focuses on women running wine-growing estates in the Champagne region, in collaboration with two other researchers from the CRIEG REGARDS research laboratory team. The aim is to examine the strategies they use to stand out in a socio-professional environment dominated by a male-led model. The researchers aim to demonstrate the impact of gender on economic performance, management style, marketing tools and succession dynamics. They are investigating whether business succession occurs in the same way regardless of gender, and whether being a woman at the helm of a wine-growing estate has an impact on all the various aspects under consideration.
Feedback on the 4th Sparkling Wine Forum
This is not Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze’s first time attending the Sparkling Wine Forum. She attends regularly, both to listen and to present research topics at dedicated conferences. For her, “the Sparkling Wine Forum is an ideal platform for building bridges between academic research and industry professionals.” She explains that this type of event is very useful for researchers, enabling them not only to share their academic findings but also to benefit from feedback from professionals.
The career of Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze
Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, based in the Faculty of Economics, Social Sciences and Management, and a member of the CRIEG REGARDS research team. She mainly teaches business strategy, marketing, and economic and social history.
With a PhD in Economics and a postdoctoral position in Management Sciences, Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze has a strong grounding in both disciplines. This background, which sets her apart from her colleagues, enables her to continue her academic research into champagne.
Whilst studying for her Master’s degree in research, Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze chose to write her economics dissertation on champagne, which earned her a scholarship from the Villa Bissinger. On the day she presented the findings of her thesis to industry professionals, the Director General of the Comité Champagne (CIVC) in Épernay (at the time, Jean-Luc Barbier) offered her the post of Head of the Comité Champagne’s Economic Observatory. Alongside this role, the lecturer and researcher decided to work on her PhD in economics before returning to university. After three years at the CIVC Observatory, Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze returned to her academic research with a wealth of experience and an expanded network.