Yann Prophète

The History of Champagne Yann Prophète

The history of the estate is above all a story of family transmission. In Landreville, a wine-growing village in the Aube nestled in the Ource Valley, Yann Prophète's grandfather planted vines of Chardonnay in 1973 and 1975, accompanied by a little Pinot Noir. Yann took over this small viticultural heritage and decided to give it a new ambition. From 2002 onwards, he began vinifying his own Champagnes, but as a perfectionist, he chose to wait nearly a decade before offering his wines for sale: it was not until the 2010 vintage that he decided to commercialise his first bottles, followed by the 2011 and 2012 vintages.

This patience defines the winemaker's entire philosophy. His production is deliberately confidential: of approximately 40,000 kilograms of grapes harvested each year on the estate, only the 2,000 kilograms from the finest bunches are reserved for his cuvées, the remainder being sold to the great houses of Champagne. Depending on the year, production thus oscillates between 1,000 and 5,000 bottles, making Champagne Yann Prophète one of the rarest estates in the region. In his 19th-century cellar, the winemaker still uses around ten manual machines, some of them nearly 150 years old, testaments to a preserved Champagne savoir-faire.

Terroirs and Vines of Champagne Yann Prophète

The estate's vineyard is located in Landreville, on the Côte des Bar terroir, in the south of the Champagne appellation. This area of the Aube, close to Burgundy, rests on Kimmeridgian clay-limestone soils that lend the wines their characteristic minerality and salinity. The vineyard of Yann Prophète has a singular configuration: its semicircular plots, framed by wooded hills, form a natural amphitheatre that shelters the vines and promotes optimal ripening of the grapes. The Fond de Vaux plot constitutes the historic heart of the estate.

The old vines planted by the grandfather, now over fifty years old, are composed predominantly of Chardonnay, complemented by Pinot Noir. The estate is farmed under certified organic agriculture (Ecocert), with practices inspired by biodynamics, in deep respect for the Champagne terroir and the surrounding biodiversity. The grapes are harvested at full maturity in order to express their full aromatic richness, and are then subject to a stringent selection before pressing.

Winemaking at Champagne Yann Prophète

Winemaking at Yann Prophète's is the purest form of craftsmanship. Pressing is carried out using antique equipment, operated manually, which allows a gentle and precise extraction of the juice. The wines undergo malolactic fermentation and benefit from barrel ageing that adds breadth and complexity. Next comes the estate's signature: an exceptionally long ageing on lees, of at least eight years and up to nearly ten years (118 months for the 2012 vintage), during which the wines gain in depth, texture and salinity.

Riddling is carried out in the traditional manner on pupitres, and disgorgement is performed by hand, with a minimalist dosage: zero grams of sugar per litre for the brut nature versions, approximately four grams for the extra brut. This unadorned approach allows the fruit, the vintage and the terroir to speak for themselves, giving rise to gastronomic Champagnes with an extremely fine bubble, vibrant and of great verticality.

The cuvées of Champagne Yann Prophète

Millésime 2009 Brut Nature: this blanc de blancs from Chardonnay is one of the oldest vintages offered by the estate. After a very long ageing on lees, it unfolds a ripe and patinated substance, carried by a remarkable saline freshness. A rare cuvée, produced in minute quantities, which illustrates the ageing potential of Yann Prophète's wines.

Millésime 2010 Brut Nature: considered the most vertical vintage from the estate, this 100% undosed Chardonnay impresses with its chiselled minerality and cutting salinity. The bubble is of extreme fineness, the profile is pure, taut and deeply moving.

Millésime 2010 Extra Brut: a lightly dosed variation of the same vintage, this extra brut version softens the tension of the Chardonnay with a discreet dosage of approximately four grams per litre. It gains in indulgence and accessibility while retaining the mineral signature of the Landreville terroir.

Millésime 2011 Brut Nature: this blanc de blancs offers a seductive balance between aromatic expression and minerality. The fully ripe Chardonnay grapes deliver notes of white fruits and candied citrus, underpinned by an elegant saline backbone and a delicate effervescence.

Millésime 2012 Brut Nature: sourced from the Fond de Vaux plot and aged 118 months on lees with a passage through oak, this undosed Champagne combines depth, creamy texture and a persistent saline finish. It is a gastronomic cuvée par excellence, suited as much to the table as to the cellar.

Millésime 2012 Extra Brut: the version dosed at four grams of the 2012 vintage seduces with its volume and roundness, while preserving the freshness and precision of Chardonnay from the Côte des Bar. A complete, harmonious Champagne of beautiful length.

Les Égarés N°15: a singular cuvée from the estate, this blanc de noirs was born in 2015, when Yann Prophète decided to set aside a few fully ripe Pinot Noir grapes. After a long ageing on lees, the wine reveals a striking salinity, an extremely fine bubble and a noble fruitiness that sets it apart from the house's blancs de blancs. This confidential cuvée also exists in magnum.