Gatinois Tradition Brut Champange

The boutique Champagne house of Gatinois is located in the lovely village of Äy in the Vallée de Marne. Äy is probably best-known as the home of such famous Grandes Marques as Bollinger, Gosset and Deutz, but it also boasts some of the best small grower-producers as well, and foremost among them is Champagne Gatinois. Äy is one of the most important villages in all of Champagne as its vineyards are all ranked as Grand Cru and it is considered one of the very top sources for Pinot Noir in the region.

The current head of the house is 12th generation vigneron Louis Gatinois, who recently took the helm and oversees just over seven hectares of family-owned vineyards in Äy. For many years the family primarily made its living as grape growers, with much of its production earmarked each year to be sold to the Grandes Marques. Louis Gatinois continues to sell a portion of his crop to the big houses, including Bollinger, but with each passing year he is bottling more and more for his own label.

Estate-owned Pinot Noir (majority is Petit Pinot d’Ay) and Chardonnay grown in the Grand Cru village of Äy. Most of their Pinot holdings are comprised of massale selection Petite Pinot d’Ay: a small-yielding, tiny berried clone that is unique to this village.