OUR VINEYARDS

Our 6.8 hectares of AOC vineyards are located, on the one hand, on the villages of Troissy Bouquigny and Belval sous Châtillon, right at the heart of the Marne Valley, and on the other hand, on the village of Vertus, in the Côte des Blancs.

When it comes to the processing of our Champagne cuvées, we have 3 main grape varieties : Meunier (4.8ha), Pinot Noir (1.2ha) and Chardonnay (0.8ha), each variety giving the best of their characteristics drawn from the soil mostly composed of marls, clays and sands.

Some of our parcelles were planted by our grand-parents and are older than we are – way back in 1959 and 1966 for the oldest ones! Others, more recent, had been replanted by our parents in the 80s/90s.

As for the management of the vineyards, the Meunier grape, which is the main variety in our estate, is trimmed in ‘simple Guyot’, the Chardonnay in ‘Chablis’, and the Pinot noir in ‘cordon de Royat’.

We take special care of each of our parcelles, depending on their characteristics: sun exposure, composition of the soil, direct environment, presence of weeds, strength.

A few expressions heard in the vineyards – from the Champagne area.

“Cela cude (ou cuide)” : There are a lot of grapes, and the grape-pickers are filling the baskets very quickly. In terms of quantity the yield is more important than expected.

“Cela decude (ou decuide)” : Not so many grapes, the baskets are not filled rapidly, the harvest yield is less important than expected.

“Il y a une belle montre!” : the vines are rich in blossoms in the Spring, the potential yield looks promising.

“Je vais aux galipes” : I am going to work in the vineyards.

“ça pleure” : the vineyards are coming out of winter and beginning their growth cycle.

“Faire les pieds” : Getting rid of all the young shoots and flower buds on each vine plant which are not necessary according to the growth plan of the vineyards when the vines start to grow.

“Ça débourre” : the buds are opening and showing the beginning of the leaves.

“Ça dégaille” : The frozen ground turns into mud under the sun rays; so we stop driving the tractor in the vineyards (especially during the grounding of the windrows)

“Ça mousine” : There is a very light drizzle without any wind.

“Le cochelet”: it refers to the traditional dinner at the end of grape-picking.