Champagne Drappier

Once occupied by Cistercian monks from Clairvaux Abbey, the seat of the House includes some magnificent 12th-century vaulted cellars.
Moving on to the more recent past, the ancestral tree of the Drappier Family nevertheless has its roots in the 17th century, with the birth in 1604 of Remy Drappier, who like Nicolas Ruinart becomes a cloth merchant in Reims. His grandson Nicolas (1669-1724) is a public prosecutor in the reign of Louis XIV. One must wait until 1808 for one of the ancestors of the House, Francois, to move to Urville and begin working a vineyard which today extends over 55 hectares, without counting a dozen contractual arrangements with other growers in the Cote des Bar, the Montagne de Reims and the Cote des Blancs.

In Urville, at the beginning of the 1930’s, the vineyard suddenly erupts with heated discussions. This is when the descendant of that time, Georges Collot, maternal grandfather of Michel, the present head of the House, is the first to decide to plant Pinot Noir in the region...

His decision causes some amusement and he is nicknamed « Father Pinot ». This grape variety in the meantime represents 70% of Drappier’s vineyards and almost three quarters of grape production in the local area... History has proved the mockers wrong.

Michel believes in minimal intervention and has had his modern winery built in such a way as to enable gentle gravitational movement of grapes, musts and wines in the winemaking process. This allows him to carry out a low sulphur regime which ties in with his practices of controlled oxidation of musts, contributing to the distinctive style of this Champagne House.