Champagne bottles, so thick and sturdy they have been used as murder weapons, are losing some of their heft: as producers face dizzying increases in production and transportation costs, they are making bottles thinner.

GH Mumm, the champagne house owned by French spirits and wine group Pernod Ricard, has just completed a trial production run of some 2.5m champagne bottles weighing 835g each when empty - 65g less than standard champagne bottles.