Classification of Champagne vineyards

Since making sparkling wine is a costly and time-consuming endeavor, most vine growers did not have the means or finances to produce Champagne themselves.

The development of the French national railroad system in the mid 19th century opened up easy access to cheaper grapes from the Loire Valley and the Languedoc.

The Champenois vine growers were incensed at these practices, believing that using "foreign" grapes to make sparkling was not producing true Champagne.

[3] With vineyard owners vastly outnumbering the producers, the Champagne houses used this dynamic of excess supply vs limited demand to their advantage.

These commissionaires were paid according to how low a price they could negotiate and many employed unsavory tactics to achieve their means-including violence and intimidation.

The prices they were able to negotiate barely covered the cost of farming and harvesting which left many Champenois vine growers in poverty.

However, for their prestige cuvee (such as Moët et Chandon's Dom Pérignon or Louis Roederer's Cristal) Champagne producers will often limit the grape sources to only Grand cru (and sometimes Premier crus) vineyards.