News

Champagne Bollinger achieves B-Corp certification

16 October 2023 By Patrick Schmitt

Bollinger has achieved a benchmark for sustainable business practices, B Corp certification – making it the second Champagne business to gain the accreditation.

Maison Bollinger, which was founded in 1829, gained B Corp certification last week

News of the achievement was announced last week, and sees Bollinger join Piper-Heidsieck, Charles Heidsieck and Rare Champagne, all part of EPI Group, as B Corp-certified companies.

According to Bollinger, gaining B Corp certification was one of the Champagne brand’s goals in advance of its bicentennial anniversary, which it will celebrate in 2029.

As previously reported by db, Bollinger has a series of “ambitious plans” as it approaches its milestone year, which include a new team structure – which is already in place – along with “the creation of a cathedral-like cellar open to the vines”.

Maison Bollinger, which was founded in 1829, also said that it will be launching “an environmental and societal charter”, as well as the construction of “a unique oenotourism site”, alongside its headquarters in the Champagne village of Aÿ.

Certified B Corporations, or B Corps, are companies verified by B Lab “to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability”.

The EPI Group Champagne houses gained the certification in August 2022.

Among other sparkling wine businesses with the sustainability standard are English producers, Ridgeview and Rathfinny, while the first wine business to achieve B Corp status was A-Z Wineworks, which has been certified since May 2014.

Champagne’s first B Corp certification granted

Playing the long game: fine wine’s global trajectory

Auction update: Clos des Goisses