The Robert family has been working the vineyards in Champagne for several generations. In the s, he created the first association of winemakers to pool resources for pressing and winemaking. In , he purchased the House which boasts marvelous 19th-century chalk cellars where our bottles currently rest.
He began marketing his Champagne bottles in Immersed in the world of Champagne from a very young age,. Bertrand Robert took over the reins of the estate in , accompanied by his wife Colette who joined the House in In , Claire Robert, the daughter of Bertrand and Colette, also joined the business. Bertrand gradually entrusts her with the management of the Domaine.
Jean-Baptiste Denizart, her husband, returned to the Domaine in Since , they both manage the entire operation together. I would play while she worked in the vineyard. This was my first contact with the land β I was aged My father would say. The barrels had to be perfectly aligned! This was the first contact with wood β that noble and living material. See the shed in the middle of the vines?
We used to eat there at lunch time. It would have taken us an hour on foot with the horse to go back home for lunch, said my grand-father. Our vineyard is spread over 14 hectares, for the most part classified Grand Cru and Premier Cru plots. But Chardonnay is the heart and soul of our estate and is the major share of all our blends. The Chardonnay is a fragile and delicate plant but contributes flowery, citric and mineral overtones to our blends making for elegant and racy wines.
The period of tasting the still wines stretches from the end of the harvest year until the end of May of the following year. The wines move, change, evolve. Between pleasant surprises and disappointments, our minds gradually shape the harmony between the terroirs and the wines. Slowly, the outline takes shape, followed by a long period of waiting to discover the future champagnes. Our vinifications and blends have been dedicated in recent years to producing wines that truly reflect the terroir, the Lieux-dits, the soil, and even the subsoil.
