Champagne Henriot has new owners … again. Six months after Artémis Domaines bought majority control of Maisons & Domaines Henriot, which included the Champagne house as well as Bouchard Père & Fils in Burgundy, William Fèvre in Chablis and Beaux Frères in Oregon, the Pinault family-owned firm has announced it will sell Champagne Henriot to Terroirs et Vignerons de Champagne (TEVC) for an undisclosed sum.
TEVC is the owner of Nicolas Feuillatte, the third-largest Champagne brand in the United States by volume, and the largest union of Champagne cooperatives, representing some 6,000 growers. Why the deal? TEVC executives were looking for a luxury label to add to their growing business. And Artémis already owns another premium Champagne brand.
What TEVC wanted
"Since 2017, Terroirs et Vignerons de Champagne was searching for alternative houses to complement the broad international success of Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte," TEVC general director Christophe Juarez told Wine Spectator. In 1808, the Henriot family established their house, which has enjoyed growing success in recent decades under the late Joseph Henriot.
But Henriot only owns 7.4 acres of vineyards. Juarez believes the ability to align Henriot's négociant business with top fruit from major regional cooperatives will pay off. And he believes Henriot will give TEVC additional international visibility and sales expertise.
This will also allow TEVC to continue its shift toward premium wine. Henriot isn’t the first négociant that TEVC has added to its portfolio—in 2019, the company purchased Henri Abelé, rebranding it as Abelé 1757. As with Abelé, Henriot will run independently from Nicolas Feuillatte. "Champagne Henriot is at a much more mature development than Abelé 1757 when we bought it back in 2019," said Juarez. "[It] is already well established and it will be even more autonomous."
And what Artémis wanted
Artémis Domaines won't be left without a Champagne brand. In December 2022, the company completed the purchase of Champagne Jacquesson. While Artémis executives say the Jacquesson purchase wasn't the driver behind spinning off Henriot, they do admit to wanting to focus entirely on the one Champagne brand. A representative for the company said this would enable them to concentrate fully on Jacquesson. The representative added that after the Maison Henriot merger, the company received several inquiries about whether Henriot was for sale.
Established by François Pinault, founder of the Keurig luxury group, the Artémis Domaines portfolio includes Château Latour in Bordeaux, Clos de Tart and Domaine d'Eugénie in Burgundy, Château-Grillet in the Rhône Valley and Eisele Vineyard in Napa Valley. The sale is pending regulatory approvals, and company officials believe it should close by September.
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