Champagne is either excellence or nothing at all.
I am a dreamer and I change the game. I could have taken the easy route, create a champagne that’s good enough. Meets the usual standard.
But I didn’t. Cause there’s no joy in mediocrity.
No passion, no love, no satisfaction.
Life is about being all in. About courage and curiosity, pushing the envelope and exploring the edges, making choices. To stand in the end with either excellence or nothing at all.
It is moving away from a standardize model in taste that offers the same yearly and globally.
I am a dreamer and I change the game.
The intention was to create something very different from what you can find on the market. Something that stands out for itself. It took efforts, perseverance and time to come with the first line of champagne that I have today.
Listening, seeing, understanding, tasting and experiencing is probably the best I could do to see if my vision was correct or achievable. So I did.
First, i wanted my champagne to be lean, clean, mineral, crisp and remind you of a chalky saline finish.
The second imperative is create a champagne with NATURE or EXTRA BRUT dosage. So that it delivers the purest expression of its terroir and varietals.
Finally, wine is not a usual drink, it’s a memorable pause in your history, and it becomes part of you. It vibrates throughout the seasons, the meals, the moments. Listen to it, for it is alive and will take you to incredible places if you do.
Cistercian monks had a gift and they passed it on to us in some regions of France. No one knows how good were the wines they produced at the time, but they understood like no one what terroir meant, and that, without using any pesticide/herbicide or else.
Without going back that far, I believe we can do better by respecting this tradition and using modern tools technique we have today.
Since 2017 the parcels are free or herbicide and pesticide treatments, the soil is ploughed or sewn in grass where possible, so it invigorates the roots rather than the vegetal. The work is done as if we were certified organic as much as possible while still having access to environmentally friendly viticulture. The place where the vines are located implies to be pragmatic and realistic, because the weather, in the Marne's Valley around Venteuil, is usually colder and damper than any other places in Champagne.
I am sympathetic to animal cause and I still can’t understand that today, with all the means at our disposal, that there are still animal abuse, misconduct, cruelty and unnecessary harm done to animals. I am no fanatic though, but I believe animals are entitle to our respect and Cour Des Lys can contribute to it by making sure that no products used on animal testing or from animals would be used inside or outside of my champagne production. That simply means, no animal tested products allowed from the vineyard to the bottle. This is a philosophy first, a respectful one towards any living creature and nature. Second, avoiding animal origin product is one of the most obvious ways you can take a stand against animal cruelty and animal exploitation everywhere. And Cour Des Lys is proud of being part of the Vegan Society, even if this is a small contribution. Third, this is our commitment to quality and having a natural approach to creating a true vegan champagne. See how you can learn more for a better world here: Go Vegan