How Moët Sells 1 in 5 Bottles of Champagne

Why is champagne so expensive? The history and business of Moët Hennessy, explained.

Moët, Dom Pérignon, Veuve Clicquot, Krug, Ruinart: more than one in every five bottles of champagne shipped in the world comes from LVMH's houses. Yet the group grows only a fifth of its own grapes, and between 2022 and 2025 the operating profit of its wines and spirits business fell by more than half.

This episode breaks down how Moët Hennessy works: owning the brand instead of the land, a region that cuts supply instead of prices, wines that wait years in the cellar, and a pyramid of brands built from the same grapes. And why cognac and tariffs have hit the machine so hard.

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Chapters
0:00 1 in 5 bottles of champagne
0:21 The numbers
1:10 From Claude Moët to LVMH
1:33 The monk who didn't invent champagne
1:53 Rule 1: Own the brand, not the land
2:30 Rule 2: Let the rules limit supply
3:14 Rule 3: Sell time
3:49 Rule 4: A pyramid of brands
4:23 The cognac problem
4:41 Tariffs
5:03 Signs of recovery
5:16 The lesson

Sources
LVMH: annual results 2019–2025, H1 2026 results, 2025 Universal Registration Document
Comité Champagne: shipments 2019–2025, yields 2023–2026, key figures
BNIC (cognac shipments 2025) · MOFCOM anti-dumping ruling on EU brandy (July 2025), via press
Vineyard land prices: FNSafer via press (2024, estimate)
Dom Pérignon 2017: The Drinks Business (March 2026)
Moët & Chandon volumes and U.S. brand sales: press estimates (Impact Databank)
Moët Hennessy job cuts: Financial Times via The Spirits Business (May 2025)
Margin and percentage changes: own calculation from LVMH figures