In brief. In 2025, exports accounted for 57.1% of champagne shipments by volume (nearly 152 million bottles out of 266 million), against 35.8% in 1990. This share is not a passing effect: it has been above 57% since 2022. In the first half of 2026, exports rose 3.8% while France fell 3%. Four markets (United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany) take 47.4% of exports. For the head of a house, three decisions shift: where each bottle goes, through which distributor, and who in the leadership team carries the international business. Figures as of early October 2026.

On January 17, 2026, the Comité Champagne published its 2025 review: 266 million bottles shipped, slightly down on 2024, of which nearly 152 million outside France and about 114 million in the French market. The arithmetic is simple: 57% of bottles leave the country.

This figure is not new. Exports were 35.8% of shipments in 1990, 40.9% in 2000, 42.1% in 2010, and they have been above 57% since 2022. What is more recent is what surrounds it. France, which took 185 million bottles in 2010, takes 114 million in 2025, a level close to that of 1979 according to Crédit Agricole du Nord Est. And in the first half of 2026, exports are what carry the rise in shipments.

In many houses, however, the international business is still treated as a function: an export director, a network of importers. When more than half of the bottles are sold outside France, it is a matter for the chief executive and for the make-up of the leadership team. Hiring is only the consequence, when a house finds that its leadership does not carry the center of gravity of its market.

The Numbers to Know

Why This Matters Now

Two dates give this subject its urgency. On January 17, 2026, the Comité Champagne reported 266 million bottles for 2025, against 326 million in 2022, a drop of 18% in three years (calculated from the Comité's figures). On July 22, it stated that first-half 2026 shipments reached 107.1 million bottles, up 1.2%, with the French market still lagging.

Three readings are circulating, and none holds up against the numbers.

"Exports have replaced France." Between 2022 and 2025, exports lost 35.5 million bottles (from 187.5 million to nearly 152 million, or -18.9%) and France lost 24.4 million (from 138.4 million to 114 million, or -17.6%). Both fell at the same pace, and the export share did not move: 57.5% in 2022, 57.1% in 2025.

"One good half-year in exports settles the question." The rolling twelve months to the end of June 2026 stand at 267.4 million bottles, down 1.3% on the previous twelve months.

"Exports are the export director's business." This is the most widespread reading and the costliest. Volume allocation, relations with distributors, price positioning, launch calendar: these decisions commit the whole house and are made where strategy and financing are decided.

Thirty-Five Years to Go from One Third to More Than Half

The table shows champagne shipments in France and abroad at six dates. The export share went from 35.8% to 57.1%, and it is the French market that lost ground.

Sources: Union des Maisons de Champagne, shipments table based on CIVC sources (1990 to 2020); Comité Champagne, press releases of January 18, 2023 and January 17, 2026 (2022 and 2025). Shares calculated by us.

The table says something about the job. In 1990, the head of a house had France as the first market. In 2025, he or she runs a house where most bottles leave through importers and distributors, in countries where the executive does not live, under pricing, tax and calendar rules that the house does not control.

None of this makes France secondary. The Comité describes it as "an absolute priority for the sector," and its co-chair Maxime Toubart calls it "a showcase for our appellation" that must be strengthened. The executive therefore holds two things together: a home market that remains the showcase and foreign markets that provide the volume. That tension defines the role.

Four Markets, Nearly Half of Exports

According to the Union des Maisons de Champagne, which relays CIVC figures from March 2026, four countries account for nearly half of the bottles shipped outside France.

Source: Union des Maisons de Champagne, "Exports 2025," based on CIVC, March 2026. Shares calculated by us on 152 million bottles.

The United States is the leading market: the Comité Champagne's U.S. bureau reported more than 26.4 million bottles for 2025 in April 2026. In 2024, the United States accounted for about 10% of volume and 14% of the value of shipments, according to Pleinchamp. Since August 7, 2025, French wines and spirits have entered the country with a 15% tax, according to Réussir. We stick to that fact: the rest is a matter for negotiation between states, not for the decision of a house's chief executive.

For the executive, the lesson lies elsewhere: a market that weighs 17% of exports is not one market among others, and the United Kingdom or Japan, at 15% and 9%, have neither the same distributors nor the same cycles. La Champagne Viticole noted in March 2026 that competition is intensifying in the United Kingdom, notably because of livelier local production. Concentration is a fact, and it can be managed.

In the first half of 2026, exports do not move the same way everywhere: the European Union rose 8.3% to 20 million bottles, third countries 2% to 47.2 million. In the sources we could read, the Comité does not publish country detail for 2026, and we do not invent it.

The Houses Carry the Half-Year

The Comité distinguishes three families of shippers: houses, cooperatives and growers. The first half of 2026 sets them clearly apart.

Source: La Champagne de Sophie Claeys, July 16, 2026, based on the Comité Champagne.

Houses ship three bottles out of four (75.1%, calculated), and their exports grow faster than the appellation's (4.7% against 3.8%). They, and therefore their executives, are on the front line of the export recovery.

A methodological caveat: in the first half, exports weigh 62.7% of shipments (67.2 out of 107.1, calculated), against 57.1% over the full year 2025. Crédit Agricole du Nord Est points out that September to December concentrates about half of the volumes shipped. A half-year ratio therefore cannot be compared with an annual ratio.

The same cycle does not hit every player the same way. Lanson-BCC published 2025 consolidated revenue of €233.3 million (-8.7%), with France at -10.7% and exports at -6.7%. At this group, exports held up better than the French market. We draw no rule from a single example: we note that the split between markets is a variable an executive must be able to read in the company's own figures.

Deciding Where Each Bottle Goes

The Comité set the marketable yield for the 2026 harvest at 8,800 kg/ha, and the governance of that ceiling is the subject of another of our articles. The commercial consequence matters here: when available volume is constrained, a bottle sent to one market is not sent to another. Exports stop being an outlet to conquer and become an allocation decision. Four trade-offs keep coming back, and none can be fully delegated.

The market. Where does the house want to be stronger in three years, and at the expense of which other? An executive who answers "everywhere" has not answered.

The distributor. In most distant markets, the house sells through an importer or distributor that holds the commercial relationship. Choosing, keeping or changing that partner commits the brand for years.

The price. The cellar-door price becomes a shelf price that depends on taxes, exchange rates and the distributor's margin. The executive must understand the mechanics.

The calendar. Sales peaks, launches and stock management by market are prepared months ahead, with teams in several time zones.

Three Public Examples, One Observation

The appointments and transactions of 2026 provide a few public examples. We report them without commenting on the individuals or the houses.

Groupe EPI. On March 10, 2026, Nicolas Beckers took over as president of the group's Champagnes division (Piper-Heidsieck, Charles Heidsieck, Rare Champagne), reporting to Christofer Descours, the group's chairman. His career, as the trade press reports it: strategy consulting, Carrefour from 2003 (Asia, Eastern Europe), Rémy Cointreau from 2011, where he ran the Greater China region from Shanghai before becoming, in 2022, president and CEO of Rémy Cointreau Americas.

Telmont. Justin Meade, a French-American who has been at Telmont since 2020 as executive director, was named managing director on July 6, 2026. He has more than fifteen years in wines and spirits, at Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon and then Louis XIII. He says: "In five years, Telmont has become an internationally recognized house." The house has belonged to Rémy Cointreau since October 2020, which acquired a majority stake.

Maison Pommery & Associés. The German group Henkell and the house negotiated exclusively, from early June to July 31, 2026, over a majority stake for Henkell. Talks ended without agreement at this stage, and both parties say they remain open to resuming them. We do not comment on this transaction. We mention it because it shows what the ownership of a champagne house can look like: a foreign sparkling wine group.

In all three cases, the international dimension appears in the executive's career or in the house's ownership. No source we read says these choices were driven by the export share, and we do not claim it.

What This Demands of the Leadership Functions

The change concentrates less on the export director than on the chief executive: the supply ceiling, the stock and the price of grapes are house decisions, the split between markets follows from them, and general management can no longer delegate the international business as it did when exports were a supplement.

The Special Case of Houses Owned by a Group or a Foreign Shareholder

When the house belongs to a beverage group, the question of where decisions are made arises differently. Telmont has belonged to Rémy Cointreau since 2020, Piper-Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck to Groupe EPI. A group may have its own distribution teams: part of the international business is then carried by the shareholder, part by the house.

Three questions become governance decisions. Who decides the volumes allocated to each market, the house or the group? Who holds the relationship with the local distributor, and what happens to it if the house changes hands? How much room is left for the identity of the house in a portfolio of brands? For a family hesitating to join a group, these questions come before the choice of the executive.

Common Mistakes

Confusing export share with conquest. A 57% share is a state of affairs, not a target. With supply capped, the issue is allocation, not conquest.

Leaving everything to the export director. He or she cannot arbitrate between France and abroad, or between two markets competing for the same bottles. That decision belongs to the chief executive.

Betting on a single market. Four countries make up 47.4% of exports and one, the United States, 17.4%. A house whose growth depends on one distributor in one of these markets has a sales policy, not a strategy.

Forgetting France. The French market is "a showcase" and still carries 114 million bottles. Abandoning it means losing the brand's original audience.

Hiring an international profile without writing the mandate. An executive trained abroad does not replace the relationship with growers and the family. The mandate must say what comes from outside and what stays anchored.

How to Assess an Executive for an Export-Oriented House

1. Which market did the executive open or turn around, and at what expense? Ask for the starting point, the end point and what was given up elsewhere. The answer reveals the capacity to arbitrate, not only to grow.

2. How did the executive manage a distribution relationship when volumes were limited? The candidate should describe a period of allocation and what it cost. Someone who has only known growth has not been tested.

3. What does the executive do when the home market declines? The candidate should explain how a domestic base was defended while developing abroad.

4. How did the executive work with a shareholder or parent company located abroad? The answer shows whether authority can be shared, and whether legitimacy comes from results or from proximity to the shareholder.

5. How does the executive present the identity of the house to an importer and to a neighborhood wine merchant? The two stories must be consistent without being identical. If they differ in substance, the brand is not held.

Frequently Asked Questions

What share of champagne is exported?

In 2025, nearly 152 million bottles out of 266 million were shipped outside France, or 57.1% (Comité Champagne, January 17, 2026), against 35.8% in 1990 and 57.5% in 2022. In the first half of 2026, the share reaches 62.7% (calculated), a half-year ratio that cannot be compared with an annual ratio.

What are the top export markets for champagne?

In 2025, the United States (26.46 million bottles), the United Kingdom (22.73), Japan (13.28) and Germany (9.62), according to the Union des Maisons de Champagne based on CIVC. Together they represent 47.4% of exports.

Are champagne exports growing in 2026?

Yes, in the first half: +3.8% to 67.2 million bottles, with the European Union up 8.3% and third countries up 2%, while France fell 3%. On a rolling twelve-month basis to the end of June, the total remains down 1.3%.

How much are champagne exports worth?

According to the Union des Maisons de Champagne, citing CIVC of March 2026, exports were worth €3.6 billion in 2025 for 152 million bottles.

Does the head of a champagne house need international experience?

It depends on the mandate and the ownership. In the public cases of 2026 (Groupe EPI, Telmont), the executive's career includes experience of distant markets or of an international group. It is not a rule: a house can choose a more local career path, provided someone in the leadership team holds the international business.

How do you hire a managing director or an export director for a champagne house?

Using a firm is not mandatory, but the search concerns executives who are already in post and whose approach requires discretion. You start by writing the mandate: which markets, how much room for France, what role for the family or the group. An executive search firm that knows luxury, wines and spirits can run that approach confidentially.

Key Takeaways

• 57.1% of champagne bottles left France in 2025, against 35.8% in 1990, and the share has been above 57% since 2022.

• Between 2022 and 2025, France and exports each fell about 18%: exports did not replace France, they settled in.

• Four markets make up 47.4% of exports, and the United States alone 17.4%: concentration has to be managed.

• In the first half of 2026, exports rose 3.8% and houses' exports 4.7%, while France fell 3%.

• The international business is no longer a function, it is a decision for general management: volume allocation, distributors, price, calendar.

The Laroze Partners Point of View

A champagne house that exports 57% of its bottles can no longer treat the international business as a supplement to France. It is a question of decision: where each bottle goes when supply is limited, with which partner, and who in the leadership answers for that choice. The houses that have understood this have brought the international business into the executive committee. The others find out when a distributor changes or a shareholder arrives.

We work with family shareholders, groups and funds on these choices in wines, spirits and luxury. Our work begins before the search for an executive, by writing the mandate: what comes from outside, what stays anchored in the house, the place the shareholder intends to hold. We pass no judgment on the houses cited, which we do not know from the inside: we read what they have made public.

The Laroze Pattern®, our method for the strategic reading of career paths, leadership behaviors and performance dynamics, helps distinguish, in an executive's record, what proves that he or she has already arbitrated between markets from what merely suggests it. A champagne house turned toward the world needs an executive who keeps the house in Épernay and a reading of the markets everywhere else.

Sources

Comité Champagne, 2025 shipments review, January 17, 2026, and press release of July 22, 2026 · Union des Maisons de Champagne, "Exports 2025" (based on CIVC, March 2026) and shipments table 1844 to 2020 · La Champagne Viticole, January 18, 2023 and March 3, 2026 · La Champagne de Sophie Claeys, July 16, 2026 (shipments), July 6, 2026 (Telmont), Groupe EPI · Wine Industry Advisor, April 7, 2026 (United States) · Pleinchamp, January 22 and October 8, 2026 · Réussir, September 30, 2025 · Rayon Boissons, January 30, 2026 (Lanson-BCC) · Shanken News Daily, January 29, 2026 (Beckers) · ESM Magazine, October 2020 (Telmont) · AFP via Boursorama, August 6, 2026 (Pommery and Henkell).