It’s rare to get an inside look at one of the world’s oldest champagne makers. NBC 5 was granted exclusive access into the world of Moët & Chandon while covering the Paris Olympics.
First things first, Marie-Christine Osselin with Moet Chandon cleared up how it is to be pronounced.
“It’s Moët! Please pronounce the ‘t’. You have to pronounce the ‘t’,” Osselin laughed. “I know people pronounce it different ways, but that isn’t it. When you have the two points over the ‘e’, you pronounce the ‘e’ and the ‘t’. Monsieur Moët was from Germany, but everything happens here in France.”
Moët & Chandon was created in 1743 and is now one of the most popular names in the champagne industry. Moët & Chandon produces more than 26 million bottles of champagne across its lines each year. Osselin said that equates to about a bottle being popped once every second around the world. The estate boasts the largest network of underground wine cellars in the Champagne region.
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“We work with more than 2,300 families of vineyards in Champagne. 100% of the grapes are handpicked,” Osselin said.
She said they are the largest vineyard in the area at more than 2,900 acres about 80 miles north of Paris. Osselin said it takes more than 4,000 people to pick those grapes by hand. Then they go into the delicate process of pressing, years of addition and fermentation to ensure the name on the bottle upholds the standard.
“You have the same Imperial that you do in Dallas. In Paris, it’s the same taste, because it’s the same blend. But then year after year, it’s a different blend because the wine evolves and the harvest are different so we have to adapt,” Osselin said.
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Their latest addition, that was just released this year, is the Collection Imperial. A vintage that she said has been decades in the making.
