Champagne DRAPPIER

Champagne Drappier is a family Winery of champagne installed in Urville in the Aube since the beginning of the 19th century and directed today by Michel Drappier. It was Saint Bernard, founder of theAbbey of Clairvaux, who built the current cellars of Winery !

Champagne Drappier, a family history

After André and Micheline Drappier, famous for their Carte d'Or vintage and the rosé de saignée, appreciated by General de Gaulle, it is now Michel Drappier who is at the head of Winery. Michel and his wife Sylvie are joined by the eighth generation of the Drappier family. Charline is gradually taking charge of marketing, while her brother Hugo is responsible for viticulture and oenology. Antoine, the youngest, is passionate about animals and nature. With his draft horse, he cultivates a part of the vineyard in organic farming.

Which grape varieties are grown in Champagne Drappier vineyards ?

Set on a powerful limestone bedrock from the Upper Kimmeridgian period—the same found in the Grand Crus of Chablis—the Drappier vineyard is a home to Pinot Noir, Grape variety “runs through our veins.” Urville, in the heart of the Côte des Bars, is the village where the Drappiers’ heart has been beating since 1808. Planted 2,000 years ago by the Gallo-Romans, the vines wind down from the surrounding hillsides under the once-benevolent gaze of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Pinot Noir reigns supreme, accounting for 70% of Winery, complemented by 15% Pinot Meunier, 9% Chardonnay, and 6% heritage grape varieties. The four forgotten grape varieties replanted by Michel are Arbanne, Petit Meslier, Blanc Vrai, and Fromenteau. They cover an area of 3.5 hectares, cultivated using organic farming methods.

Winemaking at Champagne Drappier

The vintages are vinified with minimal intervention, they are not filtered, nor discolored. No animal products are used. Some of the yeasts used for the fermentations have been selected and raised at Winery. At Winery Drappier, oak tuns mature the great vintages until they are bottled. The smallest containers (muids or demi-muids) are made of local oak, the one from the forest created by the Templars in the 13th century and of which the Oriental forest is today the heritage. The expedition liqueurs are aged in Limousin oak vats and then in dame-jeanne for more than 15 years, thus gaining in concentration and nobility. A reduced dose is added to each bottle at the time of disgorgement in order to accentuate the length in mouth without ever weighing down the palate. The Champagnes obtained in this way are more complex and purer too.