One Bottle After Another: The Leo DiCaprio–Backed Champagne Telmont Earns a Major Regenerative Farming First

The Leonardo DiCaprio-backed Maison Telmont has become the first Champagne house to earn Regenerative Organic Certified status.

After months of audits and on-site verification conducted by Ecocert Environnement, the historic Maison Telmont has become the first in Champagne to receive Regenerative Organic Certified status (known as ROC), at the Bronze level, for its organic-certified vineyards. The designation places Telmont in rare company and signals a shift in how sustainability is being operationalized in one of the world’s most tradition-bound wine regions.

Unlike many sustainability labels that focus on a single metric, ROC is built on a layered framework that begins with certified organic agriculture and moves further into soil regeneration, biodiversity, and labor protections.

What is the Regenerative Organic Certification?

Launched in 2017 by the Regenerative Organic Alliance, an organization founded by the Rodale Institute, Dr. Bronner’s, and Patagonia, the ROC baseline requirement is organic certification, which means a prohibition on herbicides, synthetic pesticides, synthetic fungicides, and synthetic fertilizers. From there, farms are evaluated on additional environmental and social criteria, including soil health, water stewardship, biodiversity, and fair working conditions.

For Telmont, the recognition formalizes work already underway. Since 2021, its “In the Name of Mother Nature” initiative has guided a comprehensive rethinking of vineyard management, production, and packaging, with the stated goal of converting 100 percent of its estate and partner vineyards to organic and regenerative agriculture by 2031 and reaching Net Zero by 2050. According to the house, 70 percent of its vines are already certified organic.

To meet the requirements for Bronze-level ROC certification, Telmont demonstrated practices that extend well beyond organic compliance. These include planting trees within and around vineyard parcels, collecting and reusing rainwater, deploying cover crops to protect and nourish soil, and maintaining biodiversity as an active component of vineyard health rather than a peripheral concern. Soil health is measured scientifically rather than assumed, and labor standards are audited to ensure fair, respectful, and inclusive working conditions.

Christopher Gergen, CEO of the Regenerative Organic Alliance, emphasized the symbolic weight of the certification for the broader wine industry. “As the regenerative organic movement grows globally, we are thrilled to welcome Telmont as the first champagne producer to become ROC,” he said. “It’s another reflection that caring for Mother Nature and creating exceptional products provide a beautiful, sustainable pairing.”

From philosophy to the bottle

The certification has also drawn attention from the house’s investors, including actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who has supported Telmont’s environmental direction since becoming involved with the brand in 2022. “Becoming the first Champagne house to earn Regenerative Organic Certification is a major achievement for Telmont and for Champagne as a whole,” DiCaprio said in a statement.

“This certification crowns several years of dedicated effort. By obtaining the certification ROC we are stating loud and clear our conviction: agriculture must be both organic AND regenerative. One cannot exist without the other! Let’s ROC!” said Ludovic du Plessis, President of Maison Telmont.

The label’s ethos extends directly into the bottle as well. In 2024, Telmont released its manifesto cuvée, Réserve de la Terre, crafted exclusively from organic grapes and produced without synthetic agricultural inputs. The wine is positioned as a proof point for the house’s belief that regenerative practices are not a constraint on quality but a contributor to vibrancy, character, and longevity.

Previous sustainability measures include eliminating gift boxes and unnecessary packaging, co-developing an 800-gram Champagne bottle with its historic glassmaking partner, discontinuing transparent glass and bespoke heavy bottles, ending air freight entirely, and transitioning operations to renewable energy. Each move has been incremental, but together it has reshaped the house’s environmental footprint.

“By pioneering sustainable winemaking practices,” DiCaprio said, “Telmont is continuing to shape the future of the industry.”

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