A row has broken out in Champagne. Not the fun kind that ends with popping corks, sabres and bad dancing, but a rather tone-deaf dispute between the rich, and the even richer, about money, class and who gets to drink what.
This week, the chief executive of Lanson Bruno Paillard (worth €100m) accused Bernaud Arnault (worth €150bn), founder of LVMH – the luxury goods group behind Moët & Chandon and Dom Pérignon – of driving up grape prices to such an extent that “ordinary families” are being priced out of champagne altogether.
