From naff to nice

Image: @moetchandon

Moët & Chandon is by far the dominant force in the Champagne region, the biggest landowner with 1,200 ha (2,965 acres) of vineyards. It's also the dominant force in the Champagne market, with all that that entails. 

Size rarely spells glamour. And the image of Moët over the years has been one of a mass-market crowd pleaser, producing acceptable but un-thrilling wines that tend to be sweeter than most. Moët was rarely the choice of wine, but nowadays they'd be wrong. The champagne industry's flagship has undergone an impressive makeover.

Today Moët's Brut Impérial, the non-vintage blend that is the company's most important product by far, made in almost unimaginable volumes, is a thoroughly respectable champagne, and much drier than it used to be. 

And Moët champagne is by no means the only wine that has gone from naff to nice. 

It was not that long ago that we all looked down our noses at how oaky and overblown Australian Chardonnay was. But now the typical Australian Chardonnay is a lean, clean, refreshing answer to white burgundy at a fraction of the price.

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