Is it really Champagne

[Drew]

boomer, welcome. The following is taken from a reference book I have and I don't know if a total list is available due to the large # of producers. Suggest some research through a search engine like Google.com.

"Of 5,000 Champagne-producers, there are 2,000 "récoltants-manipulants" (RM - growers and producers), who do everything themselves, harvesting the grapes, vinification, right through to managing sales. The rest are "récoltants coopérateurs" (RC - growers and members of co-operatives) who hand over their grapes for vinification by a co-operative. The latter returns the bottled wine, which they then sell under their own label, from their own vineyard, as if they had made it themselves, using only their own grapes. Although deceptive, this practice is nonetheless legal."

Drew