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Bulgarian grape harvesters work at the Chateau Meursault vineyard in Meursault, Burgundy region, east-central France, on August 26, 2025. (Photo by ARNAUD FINISTRE/AFP) (Photo by ARNAUD FINISTRE/AFP via Getty Images)
Arnold Finister | AFP | Getty Images
Not surprisingly, Champagne sales peak around Christmas and New Year’s Eve, with French sparkling wine being the drink of choice for many households over the festive period.
Every year, approximately 120,000 seasonal workers come to France to work picking grapes on 34,000 hectares of vineyards. The harvest period only lasts a few weeks, making it a crazy time for the industry.
However, a darker side of the industry has emerged when it comes to this work, with recent reports exposing the exploitation and abuse suffered by Champagne grape pickers, who are often foreign and undocumented immigrants.
During an extreme heat wave in the late summer of 2023, at least four immigrant grape pickers, also known as “adventurers,” died in an event known as the “Harvest of Shame.”
The case highlights a wider range of substandard working and housing conditions for pickers, including excessive hours, low wages, and a lack of safety equipment and protocols such as adequate water and rest.
The scandal over working conditions and benefits comes at a difficult time for the industry – with a below-average 2024 harvest due to spring frosts and summer rains This condition did not subside until the end of the growing season, virtually “saving” the harvest.
The 2025 harvest was better thanks to mild weather conditions and was praised for its high-quality vintage.
Still, this year’s sales, due to be reported in January, are likely to be further affected by U.S. import tariffs on EU goods. Leading to a sharp drop in Champagne exports to the United States.
‘Blatant abuse’
The dark side of the Champagne industry is gradually coming to light as the 2023 harvest coincides with an extreme heat wave that kills at least four immigrant grape pickers.
On September 14, 2023, seasonal workers in the Champagne region of Chatillon-sur-Marne, France (AOC (AOC)) harvest grapes in the vineyard.
Thierry Monas | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Then, in the summer of 2025, three people went on trial, accused of human trafficking and the exploitation of more than 50 West African migrant workers during the 2023 harvest.
Victims reported that they were treated like “slaves” and “animals” and kept in “hellish” and unsanitary conditions without clean drinking water. The labor inspectorate said in the case that such conditions undermined workers’ safety, health and dignity.
Unethical employment practices also came into focus during the trial as the defendants were affiliated with an employment agency that supplied workers to the industry, highlighting the Champagne house’s widespread use of subcontractors and employment agencies or more informal channels to recruit grape pickers.
The defendants were convicted and fined and jailed, while the union said the use of “middlemen” and agencies allowed the Champagne house to turn a blind eye to illegal work practices.
In a summary of the case before Chalons-Champagne Crown Court, the prosecutor commented: “We cannot accept that a bottle of champagne hides uncontrolled subcontracting and blatant abuse.”
sales challenge
The Comité Champagne is the top trade body for the French Champagne industry, representing more than 16,000 grape growers, 130 cooperatives and 370 Champagne houses. The commission acknowledged the court case had damaged the industry’s reputation and said it would have a “zero tolerance” approach to any future infringements.
“We must stand with the victims. You cannot play with the health and safety of seasonal workers, nor with the image of our production areas,” committee co-chairs David Chatillon and Maxime Toubart Tell Le Monde July after trial.
The committee launched the Shared Harvest Champagne action plan to ensure improved worker health and safety protocols, worker accommodation and harvest regulations.
A member of the French General Confederation of Labor (CGT) union distributes pamphlets to seasonal grape pickers, usually foreign workers, in a Champagne vineyard to inform them of their labor rights, in Iniconbrizi, eastern France, on September 19, 2024.
Francois Gnassingbeni | AFP | Getty Images
Champagne grape growers and houses have been keen to show their commitment to the well-being of their workers. Moët & Chandon, the world’s largest producer, is also LVMHinvesting €1.5 million ($1.76 million) to build new accommodation for an additional 90 grape pickers by 2024, bringing its total accommodation capacity to 1,900 beds.
CNBC asked the Champagne Council whether the welfare measures have been fully implemented by its member organizations since they were proposed, but has yet to receive a response. CNBC also contacted several unions, including the CGT union and the SGV Champagne growers union, about the reforms but did not receive a response.
There is no doubt this is a difficult time for the industry as a whole – the 2024 harvest is expected to be below average due to spring frosts and summer rains This does not subside until the end of the growing season – just to “save” the harvest. The 2025 harvest was better thanks to mild weather conditions and was praised for its high-quality vintage.
Champagne is synonymous with northeastern France. In terms of production, Champagne accounts for 10% of global sparkling wine production, but accounts for 35% of the global market value of sparkling wine. However, Champagne sales have declined in recent years due to lower global demand and lower alcohol consumption.
Champagne shipments (usually a blend of several years’ harvests) in 2023 299 million bottles in totaldown 8.2% from the previous year. In 2024, shipments will be 271 million bottles, According to the Champagne Council. Sales this year face additional headwinds from U.S. import tariffs on EU goods.
The industry also faces challenges from within, with the CGT union at LVMH’s Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot champagne units calling for workers to go on strike in December to protest against the cancellation of year-end bonuses and demand higher wages.
A spokesperson for Moët & Chandon told CNBC that the company would not comment on the dispute, but that pay negotiations would take place in early 2026, noting that “we cannot comment ahead of negotiations.”
If sales continue to decline, the treatment of seasonal pickers will be just one of the challenges facing the industry.
