Champagne Telmont Raises a Glass to World’s Lightest Champagne Bottle | Sustainable Brands (2025)

35 grams may not sound like much at first take; but scaled up across an industrythat uses a mammoth amount of glass, and you’ve got significant potential forchange.

Champagne Telmont and French glassmakerVerallia recently announced the success of theirmost recent experiment of using an 800-gram Champagne bottle — an improvementon a bottle launched in 2010 — andthey’re excited about the implicit reduction in emissions created throughout theproduction, storage and transportation of the glass.

“We decided to challenge the 835 number; and today we have the first results,and they’re very positive,” Telmont president Ludovic duPlessis toldSustainable Brands®.

While neither du Plessis or Verallia detailed the exact methodology of theinitial 3,000-bottle experiment, the bottles were tested to meet the internalpressurization required of a Champagne (more than twice thepressureof an inflated car tire), along with the ability to keep that pressure intactthrough storage and movement.

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“All the mandatory elements linked to the Champagne process and our industrialprocess have been taken into consideration in order to guarantee the bottle’sresistance and use (for example, pressure, bottle stacking, disgorging) withinthe whole lifecycle of the process,” a Verallia rep told SB.

Telmont sent a batch of bottles via cargo ship to Singapore as part of thetesting and all arrived without any damage. Du Plessis adds that the key isbeing able to use automation throughout all parts of the process, as human touchcan create additional pain points for potential damage.

“For us to take the 30,000-bottle risk with this means we are super confident,”he says.

Glass's huge footprint

Glass production is extremely energy-intensive, consuming more than 200trillion BTUs annuallyto form molten material that can then be shaped into, in this case, Champagnebottles. Many producers have their own specific glass design, which furtherraises the emissions output. (In contrast, regular wine bottles use lessglass,as they don’t have the same needs as a Champagne bottle.)

For Telmont, specifically, the company reports that glass represents about 24percent of its total carbon output; and this new bottle would reduce that byabout 4 percent.

Telmont sticks to a “classic” design that’s readily available, made from 87percent recycled glass (Telmont and Verallia are working to get that number upto 90 percent). He adds that should other Champagne houses want to use the new,lighter glass, he’s more than ready to share it with them.

However, the largest Champagne houses produce upwards of 30 million bottlesannually,dwarfing this trial run of 30,000. There’s also the issue of evolving anindustry rich in centuries-old tradition and strict standards. Convincing theseMaisons to change their ways will not be an overnight process — it will taketime and proof points from Telmont’s initiative, which is set to be released in2026 following a three-year bottle-aging of its certified organic Réserve de laTerre.

There is hope, though — as the larger Champagne consortium was one of theearliest wine regions to take action on climate change, with an initial plandating back to2003.Among its most pertinent achievements, ComitéChampagne is treating and reusing 100 percent ofthe water used to make the product and some novel thinking around reintegrationof Champagne-creationbyproducts.

The next phase of larger goals

In January, Telmont released its own sustainabilityguide,which details not only a number of initiatives the company has committed to oris working on, but tries to put a focus on some of the broader climate-relatedissues in the Champagne business.

Beyond commitments to climate- and net-positivity, the guide clearly defineswhere Telmont observes its Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions originating from — withglass, of course, being a large contributor of Scope3.Du Plessis says that Telmont is also transitioning to green glass fromtraditional clear glass (including the new bottle); and this change could reduceTelmont’s Scope 3 emissions by 19.3 percent by 2030.

He adds that Telmont is also trialing a glass return program in the Champagneregion — asking customers to return used, empty bottles for cleaning and reuseas sparkling wine or cider bottles (Champagne regulations do not allow usedbottles to be refilled with new juice).

Telmont is also on a mission to transition to organicwinemaking,with a goal to reach 100 percent organic certification by 2025 for its ownestate, and by 2031 on its partners’ vineyards.

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Geoff Nudelman

Geoff is a freelance journalist and copywriter focused on making the world a better place through compelling copy. He covers everything from apparel to travel while helping brands worldwide craft their messaging. In addition to Sustainable Brands, he's currently a contributor at Penta, AskMen.com, Field Mag and many others. You can check out more of his work at geoffnudelman.com.

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Published Apr 25, 2023 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST

Champagne Telmont Raises a Glass to World’s Lightest Champagne Bottle | Sustainable Brands (2025)
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