Half the truth

One of my dreams is to sell our two different rosé champagnes in half bottles. Mainly to make it easier for you to opt for champagne when you want something special, also where you are more set for only one glass rather than a full bottle.

Believe it or not, sometimes it is difficult to empty a bottle of 75 cl, and you don't open one unless you are pretty sure to finish.

So I got slightly annoyed as Alain told me that half a bottle does not mean half the price. Since the bottle is more expensive to produce and labelling and handling of it is the same.

I still believe in a market, which is supported by some numbers from l'Union from late January this year. The newspaper writes, that the house of Duval Leroy sold seven percent more of these half bottles last year, and that half bottles all in all represent more than four percent of the total sales of this brand.

The extra costs for half bottles are somewhere between two and five percent according to l'Union. As for the grapes, you pay only half, since the half bottle contains only 37,5 cl, or half of the ordinary 75 cl, called la Champenoise.

The cellar master of Perrier-Jouët, Hervé Deschamps, says to l'Union, that champagnes in half bottles mature much faster, and must be drunk before the bigger bottles.

Half bottles of champagne are popular in Japan and Switzerland.