>Meanwhile, neighboring vignerons with terrific bottles are locked out and can't sell their bottles for half what a mediocre champagne goes for. Going by this

>Meanwhile, neighboring vignerons with terrific bottles are locked out and can't sell their bottles for half what a mediocre champagne goes for. Going by this assumption, the neighboring vignerons have zero incentive to try and make a product that could compete with decent Champagne. A winemaker selling their bottles for 500 can invest much more money per bottle than a winemaker selling their bottles for 50. So even if it was all marketing at some point, it ends up being a self-fulfilling prophecy.