A Year in the Life of a Winemaker
Producing Champagne is about much more than growing vines. It means guiding a wine through several years of development. It also means living in tune with the seasons, making decisions every day in both the vineyard and the cellar, working hand in hand with nature.
So, what does a year in the life of a Champagne winegrower and producer look like?
Winter: Preparing the Next Harvest and Caring for the Wines
While the vineyard enters dormancy this season is far from quiet. It marks the beginning of pruning, a crucial stage that largely determines the future harvest by ensuring better sap flow to the buds. For several months, each vine is carefully pruned by hand to control its vigor and encourage balanced production. This ancestral skill, passed down from generation to generation, requires patience and expertise.
In the cellar, the bottles continue their aging process, while the wine from the latest harvest is carefully monitored to ensure its quality before bottling.
Spring: The Awakening of the Vine
In spring, the Champagne landscape is constantly changing. The vines grow day by day, and the first buds appear, heralding the formation of future grape. During this period, various vineyard tasks are carried out to ensure healthy vine development: bud thinning, lifting, trellising, and soil maintenance. The goal is to guide and structure the vine while respecting the vineyard’s natural balance.
This season, when buds emerge, turn into flowers, and eventually become fruit, is full of change, growth, and uncertainty due to weather-related challenges. In Champagne, the risk of spring frost or hail is one of the main concerns, as it can significantly affect the upcoming harvest.
The cellar is equally busy during this time, as it is the season for bottling. Before bottling, we assess the wine’s visual, aromatic, and tasting characteristics to create our blends. We work exclusively with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, blending cuvées with fresh, fruity, indulgent, floral, and subtly tangy aromas, achieving the perfect balance between elegance and structure.
Once bottling is complete, the bottles are carefully stored in our cellars for several months of aging. Time then becomes a true ally: month after month, year after year, it refines textures, develops aromas, and reveals the wine’s full complexity. This long waiting period requires patience, but it is essential to creating the cuvées exactly as we envision them.
Summer: Supporting Grape Evolution
During the summer months, as the grapes develop and the berries begin to change color, we closely monitor their progress. Each vineyard plot evolves at its own pace and requires particular attention. The challenge is to preserve the potential of every cluster before harvest begins, when every day counts.
In the cellar, as throughout the year, work continues on our various cuvées. This is also the time for disgorgement, an essential step that involves removing the natural sediment formed during aging.
The bottles are then carefully dressed and prepared: labels, foils, and collars are applied with precision. Every detail matters in preparing the cuvées that will soon leave our cellars and meet Champagne enthusiasts around the world.
Harvest: The Result of a Year’s Work
After months of preparation, harvest time finally arrives. Every harvest is unique and shaped by the climatic conditions of the year.
This meticulous stage begins long before the first grape is picked. As soon as the berries start to change color, we carefully monitor their maturation process to determine the optimal harvest date for each vineyard. Achieving the perfect balance between sugar and acidity is essential for producing high-quality juice. If harvested too early, the grapes will lack ripeness; if harvested too late, they may lose their freshness.
The harvest is carried out entirely by hand to preserve the integrity of the fruit, and each grape cluster is selected with care. The grapes are then immediately transported to the press, where they are gently pressed before the juice is transferred to tanks.
Autumn: From Vine to Wine
Once the harvest is complete, a new adventure begins. The first fermentations start, and the juices gradually reveal their personality. Each tank tells the story of a vineyard, a grape variety, an exposure, or a particular growing season.
Our role is to monitor the wines’ development and unlock the potential of each tank in order to shape the identity of our different cuvées.
Meanwhile, the vines slowly enter a new resting phase. The leaves take on their autumn colors before gradually falling, marking the end of the vegetative cycle.
A Passion That Knows No Season
Being a winegrower in Champagne means living in constant contact with nature, accepting its unpredictability, and celebrating its successes. It also means preserving a heritage, passing on expertise, and perpetuating traditions that have sometimes existed for centuries.
Behind every bottle lies far more than sparkling bubbles: it is the result of several years of dedication, patience, and hard work.