- EPC Champagne arrives in Australia with a transparency-first model that puts terroir, growers, blend and dosage front and centre on every bottle.
- Co-founder Jérôme Queige is betting that modern drinkers value clarity and traceability as much as heritage.
- By co-creating cuvées with growers and rethinking how Champagne is communicated, EPC is reshaping expectations in one of the world’s most tightly controlled wine categories.
Pick up almost any non-vintage Champagne and flip it over. Go on. House, style, maybe a vintage range if you’re lucky, though not much else.
That’s not a criticism. The mystery has always been part of the magic. Throughout history, Champagne’s grandes maisons have built empires on what they don’t tell you. The blend is proprietary. The growers are anonymous. The mystique is the product, and for centuries, nobody really thought to question it.
Then, in 2019, EPC turned up with an innovative approach to winemaking built on traceability. It’s challenged the playbook ever since.
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EPC doesn’t carry a family name (which, in Champagne terms, is practically heresy). It’s shorthand for Epicurean: pleasure, sharing, drinking well without needing a reason to indulge. No dynasty, no great-great-grandfather in a cravat. Just a bet that today’s drinker actually cares more about what’s in the bottle than who’s on the label, and isn’t afraid to ask.
That’s because full-traceability is at the heart of everything it does. Terroir. Growers. Blend. Dosage. A temperature-sensitive ink that turns blue when it’s ready to drink. Even a QR code. It’s a flavour guide even your mum would understand. Everything you need to know, right there on the label.
“Everything else can evolve.”
Jérôme Queige, EPC co-founder
Almost seven years in, EPC is already everywhere you wouldn’t expect a new Champagne to be – from the iconic riverboats along the Seine to Etihad’s upper cabins. Among its backers: Xavier Niel, the French tech billionaire, and Didier Deschamps, who lifted the World Cup as France manager in 2018.
“The viticulture, the blending, the time the wine spends ageing – that’s where tradition must be preserved,” says co-founder Jérôme Queige. “Everything else can evolve.” Design, communication, how the brand meets its drinker – all of it is fair game. The mistake, in his view, is confusing respect for tradition with resistance to change.
This philosophy is reflected in the grower relationships. Co-founder Édouard Roy’s grandfather helped establish the Bethon cooperative back in 1967 – the same growers whose Chardonnay goes into the Blanc de Blancs today. In a region that runs on relationships, that kind of root system matters more than most realise.
EPC goes one further, co-creating each cuvée alongside its growers rather than simply buying fruit and stepping away; compensating them for the full process, not just the harvest. The result: growers approaching EPC, rather than the other way around.
“When growers trust you with their fruit,” says Queige, “it means they believe in your vision and the way you work.” In Champagne, that’s the only currency that counts.
The Blanc de Blancs Brut NV is 100% Chardonnay from the Côteaux du Sézannais, south of Épernay – taut and citrusy, with a chalky spine that keeps you reaching back for more. Perfect for Tuesday’s grilled fish tacos. The Brut NV is Pinot Meunier-led, which feels broader and more textural – the kind of Champagne that works with roast chicken, fries, or – as Jérôme suggests – a really good burger.
EPC isn’t trying to replace the classics, and it doesn’t need to. The more interesting takeaway isn’t really about Champagne at all: even the most guarded categories eventually have to meet the modern consumer halfway. EPC just didn’t wait around for the invitation.
EPC Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut NV (AU$94.99) and EPC Champagne Brut NV (AU$74.99) are available now at select Dan Murphy’s stores nationally.
