Thanks to the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne, champagne is one of the most thoroughly organized wine regions in the world. The CIVC was established in 1941 as a co-operative organization grouping champagne growers, co-operatives, shippers, and houses under the auspices of the government. Growers/co-operatives on the one hand and merchants/champagne houses on the other each have a president to represent them. The CIVC is charged with organizing and controlling the production, distribution, and promotion of the wines of Champagne, as well as undertaking fundamental research for the region. Until 1990 it set a price for the grapes and still intervenes to regulate the size of the harvest and decide whether any of it should be ‘blocked’, or retained as juice rather than vinified and sold. The CIVC is financed by a levy on production and a tax on champagne sales.
