Antoine Chevalier

The History of Champagne Antoine Chevalier

In 1925, Guy Chevalier, a passionate farmer from Vitry-en-Perthois, planted his first vines on the chalky hillsides of the region, laying the foundations of Champagne Antoine Chevalier. A livestock farmer and peasant at heart, Guy did not yet aspire to vinify his own grapes — they went to the cooperative, but the quality of his work in the vineyard was already beyond reproach. A visionary, he took part in the creation of the local cooperative in Bassuet in 1973, contributing to the recognition of the quality of the grapes from the Coteaux Vitryats. This cooperative would quickly supply the great Champagne houses of the north, proving that this understated terroir deserved far more than a supporting role.

Antoine Chevalier, the family's first winemaker, represents the third generation rooted in the chalky hillsides of Vitry-en-Perthois. After studying at the Lycée Viticole d'Avize and gaining extensive winemaking experience across Burgundy, Languedoc, Ardèche, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and South Africa, Antoine returned in 2014 with a deeply held conviction: viticulture must respect life in all its forms. Supported by his partner Aurore, he immediately set about transforming the estate. Antoine's adventure as a winemaker began in 2016 with the creation of his cellar and winery, finally allowing him to craft his Champagne wines according to his own vision.

Terroirs and Vines of Champagne Antoine Chevalier

At its peak in 1800, the Vitryat boasted 4,000 hectares of vines out of the 15,000 planted in the Marne. A series of successive events — phylloxera, the First World War, the importation of foreign wines, the 1929 crisis, and the Second World War — contributed greatly to the abandonment and disappearance of the vines for nearly half a century. This glorious viticultural past, attested as far back as François I, who appreciated the still white wines of the region, makes the revival work accomplished today by Antoine all the more precious.

The estate spans 2.5 hectares planted exclusively with Chardonnay, divided into ten unique plots located in the communes of Vitry-en-Perthois, Couvrot, and Val-de-Vière. Each plot is a garden in its own right, cultivated with the same care as a great Burgundian cru, and each one delivers a different, unique expression of the same noble grape variety.

The secret of these Champagnes lies in the exceptional geology of the Coteaux Vitryats. The vineyard rests on layered limestone soils spanning different geological eras, ranging from the Upper Cretaceous to the Middle and Upper Turonian, formed between 65 and 90 million years ago. This geological mosaic, which can vary between the top and bottom of a single hillside, generates expressions of minerality, freshness, and chalkiness of incomparable richness. The vines are planted exclusively with Chardonnay on chalk hillsides with full south-facing exposure.

Certified organic since 2020 and biodynamic since 2021, the vineyard is also certified High Environmental Value and Sustainable Viticulture in Champagne since 2016. No herbicides, no pesticides, and no synthetic products are used in these vines. The soil lives, breathes, and that vitality is reflected in the glass.

Vinification at Champagne Antoine Chevalier

Winemaking at Antoine Chevalier mirrors his approach to viticulture: minimal intervention to let the terroir speak. He excavated and built his winemaking facility into the chalk, eliminating any need for air conditioning. This is where the barrels and "Clayver" ceramic spheres rest, allowing the wine to come into significant contact with the lees and ensuring gentle micro-oxygenation.

The aging process combines two complementary approaches: stainless steel tanks to preserve the freshness and aromatic purity of the Chardonnay, and oak barrels (or sandstone vessels) to add complexity, sapidity, and depth. The wines are neither filtered nor fined, and are occasionally stirred on the lees; malolactic fermentations are not blocked. The yeasts used are exclusively indigenous, naturally present in the vineyard — an approach that guarantees the authenticity of each vintage and reinforces the imprint of the terroir in the wine.

All harvests are carried out by hand, plot by plot, at optimal ripeness. Each lieu-dit is then vinified separately in order to preserve the identity of each terroir and to allow lovers of single-vineyard Champagnes to explore distinct expressions under the same signature. Antoine Chevalier Champagnes have an exceptional aging potential of 8 to 10 years, allowing the aromas to develop even greater complexity over time.

The Cuvées of Champagne Antoine Chevalier

The estate currently produces three single-vineyard cuvées, each from a specific lieu-dit and a single vintage, an absolute reflection of a moment and a place.

Carkonnia

The cuvée Carkonnia, whose name evokes the Gaulish origins of the village of Vitry-en-Perthois, is the signature wine of Maison Antoine Chevalier. It is the founding cuvée, the one that introduced this estate to lovers of artisan Champagnes from the very first vintage commercialized in 2016. This exceptional Blanc de Blancs is crafted exclusively from Chardonnay sourced from the historic plot "Le Jardin de Meunier," planted in 1973 by grandfather Guy, on Turonian limestone soils with outcropping chalk. The south-facing exposure of this hillside plot, through which the Saulx river flows, encourages slow and steady ripening of the Chardonnay, preserving a remarkable natural acidity. The vinification combines aging in stainless steel tanks and oak barrels for several months, followed by aging of at least 36 months on the lees in cellars carved into the chalk. The cuvée is dosed as Extra Brut, at approximately only 2 g/L, which highlights the purity and directness of the Chardonnay without any artifice.

Tecta Silva

Tecta Silva, a name tied to the history of the chalk quarries of the region, represents the second single-vineyard cuvée of the house. Sourced from the plot "Les Renardes," planted in 2000 in the village of Couvrot, this cuvée offers a more taut and saline expression of Chardonnay, revealing another facet of the Vitryat terroir. The south-east exposure of this plot and the particular composition of its chalky soils — more friable and almost gravelly — intensify the sensation of minerality at the heart of the wine. Compared to Carkonnia, Tecta Silva expresses itself with greater verticality, tension, and salinity: a cuvée for lovers of straight, sharp Champagnes that evoke the chalk almost physically. As with all the estate's cuvées, the aging combines stainless steel and wood, without filtration or fining, for an authentic and living expression of the Couvrot terroir.

Les Crochots - Coteaux Champenois

From the 2021 vintage onwards, Antoine also produces a Coteaux Champenois from a few rows of the plot "Les Crochots," planted in 1973. This still wine is aged for 18 to 24 months in barrel before bottling, and is produced in only a few hundred bottles. This confidential cuvée represents a true rarity in the Champagne landscape: a still white wine made from Chardonnay grown on chalk, aged at length in barrel, which echoes what the Coteaux Vitryats produced several centuries ago, long before the rise of sparkling Champagne.