Formerly J de Telmont, the bubblies of environmentally-minded Champagne Telmont are now available in Singapore via Rémy Cointreau.
When Rémy Cointreau first invested into Champagne house J de Telmont back in October 2020, it certainly wasn’t for the name. In fact, J de Telmont didn’t stand for anything. It was a fictitious name thought up by André Lhôpital on behalf of his father Henri Lhôpital, who had founded the house in 1912 in Damery, near Epernay.
What the French spirits group was keen on was the Champagne winemaker’s steadfast and unerring focus on terroir. And not just in winemaking provenance, but also carving a path in viticulture towards sustainability and a respect for Mother Earth. To that end J de Telmont started converting its vineyards to incorporate organic practices, and in 2017, obtained organic certification for a portion of the plots in its estate.
It was the same when Rémy Cointreau purchased Islay distillery Bruichladdich in 2012. Sure, the disused whisky distillery had some heritage, having been built in 1881. But the opportunity there was for Bruichladdich to leverage its unique Hebridean terroir; over the years Bruichladdich would go on to produce many lauded expressions that employed barley grown on Islay itself.
Back to J de Telmont. Rebadged as Champagne Telmont, the Champagne house – which sees third-generation Bertrand Lhôpital continue to guide its fortunes – recently unveiled new and expanded ambitions towards environmental sustainability. Called ‘In Nomine Terrae’ – Latin for ‘in the name of mother nature’ – the program looks to guide the maison towards a greener Earth. Objectives under the program include preserving terroir and biodiversity, looking at eco-design (it has banned most packaging, for example), using renewable energy, greening its entire supply chain, and making its production more transparent.
“Telmont is a house with character, boasting a legacy of craftsmanship and a strong ambition, poised to become the standard bearer of a new relationship with nature. We have one foot rooted in tradition and one in modernity, and both feet on (and in) the earth,” Ludovic du Plessis, President of the House of Telmont, had declared.
“I’m proud of the wine-growing legacy which has been handed down in my family from one generation to the next. This heritage enables us to be in close contact with the earth and people, to work with the soil and create our wines the Telmont way. When Rémy Cointreau joined the adventure, contributing their proven commitment to terroir and savoir-faire, it added a new dimension to the quest for excellence which has driven our family for years,” shared Bertrand Lhôpital, Cellar Master and Head of Viticulture of the House of Telmont.
Rémy Cointreau recently announced the availability of Champagne Telmont at select venues across Singapore. The five expressions available are:
- Réserve Brut
- Réserve Rosé
- Blanc de Blancs Vinothèque 2005
- Blanc de Blancs 2012
- Vinothèque 2012
Tippling Club is now featuring Telmont Réserve Brut in select cocktails on its new menu, A Guide to Modern Drinking, Volume II, while other expressions are available in its dining room – including the Vinothèque 2012 exclusive to Tippling Club – and as pairing recommendations for its tasting menus.
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[…] to Telmont’s green cred – the Champagne house has set itself on a goal towards full environmental sustainability – the space is kitted out with sustainability in mind. This includes using empty bottles […]
[…] the winemaker not only possesses an unerring focus on terroir but also have been in recent years carving a path in its viticulture towards environmental sustainability. It even has its own set of green guiding principles it calls ‘In Nomine Terrae’, which […]
[…] in the name of sustainability. Unless, of course, one functions like Telmont, which consciously built its identity around this very public commitment to environmentally conscious decisions, though they did not go to the extent of doing away with glass bottles entirely. They simply […]