Maison Lanson unveiled its prestige cuvée ‘Noble Champagne’ officially to duty free at last week’s TFWA World Exhibition & Conference (2-6 October) in Cannes.

The Reims-based Champagne house, which TRBusiness had the pleasure of visiting this summer, took the opportunity to share more information on the vintage launched into consumer markets this month during a press briefing at its stand (C8, Blue Village) on Wednesday 5 October.

Drawing on plots dedicated to 100% Grand Crus from the Côte des Blancs and the Montagne de Reims, Noble blends Chardonnay (minimum 70%) with Pinor Noir grape varietals and uses a vinification process without malolactic fermentation to produce the oldest vintage of prestige cuvées.

The launch of Noble symbolises a near-two decade quest for excellence by winemaker Hervé Dantan, says Lanson.

Limited availability in duty free

Noble Brut and Blanc de Blancs 2004 vintage are available only at wineshops, fine dining establishments and some travel retail outlets.

It is being priced at €200 in global travel retail, though Lanson has yet to release an allocation for the channel.

By vintage, 20,000 – 25,000 bottles are being made available for the Brut and 10,000 – 15,000 bottles for the Blanc de Blancs.

“It’s been very well received and welcomed,” Edouard de Boissieu, Head of Travel Retail, Champagne Lanson told TRBusiness.

According to Hervé Dantan, Winemaker at Champagne Lanson, the cuvée ‘is the noblest expression of Champagne, the fruit of an exceptional nature, the savoir-faire of man and time’.

Le Vintage 2012 tasting

During the press event, attendees were given the chance to taste Lanson Le Vintage 2012, another new launch in global travel retail.

They heard that 2022 is expected to be another record year for Champagne, with around 340 million bottles produced.

In travel retail specifically, demand continues to be high. This is especially the case since May, with sales ballooning over the summer period.

At the same time, Champagne’s share of the travel retail revenues of operators is on the up and Lanson’s DF&TR business has continued to grow with shipments in 2022 exceeding than that of 2019.

HPPs for the likes of Le Rosé Fruit Market LEP with Gebr. Heinemann at Frankfurt Airport T2 (non-Schengen) and with Lagardére Travel Retail at Paris CDG Terminal 2E Hall K has helped to spur sales.

Meanwhile, the return of its Wimbledon-themed sku and supporting activity at the likes of Dubai Duty Free T3 Arrivals 4 has supported sales growth.

“That our business has not only recovered from the setback of Covid-19 but is now ahead of 2019 is a real achievement,” commented de Boissieu.

“We are still in extremely challenging times and the rising cost of living may have an impact, but at the moment it seems that Champagne is still very much in favour with travelling customers – and long may that last.

“We are hearing from many of our retail partners that Champagne is accounting for an ever-increasing percentage of liquor sales. We will continue to support the channel with brand activations which we believe are key for raising the profile of Lanson and introducing travellers to our various cuvées.”