Glossary
Récoltant-Manipulant (RM)
A grower-producer who makes and sells champagne exclusively from grapes they have grown themselves. Identifiable by the 'RM' code on the label.
Récoltant-Manipulant (RM) is one of the producer categories printed as a small code on every champagne bottle. An RM is a grower — often farming 2 to 15 hectares — who vinifies and bottles champagne from their own vineyards only, with limited exceptions for co-op pressing.
Other codes to know:
- NM — Négociant-Manipulant: buys grapes and/or must from growers. Every major house is an NM.
- RC — Récoltant-Coopérateur: a grower who sends grapes to a co-op that makes the wine, then sells it under the grower’s own label.
- CM — Coopérative de Manipulation: a co-operative producing and selling under its own name.
- SR — Société de Récoltants: a producers’ union, often family-based.
- MA — Marque d’Acheteur: a buyer’s own brand (supermarket or restaurant labels).
Grower champagne (RM) has become a significant force since the 2000s, particularly in the Côte des Bar and Montagne de Reims.
Related terms