Agrapart Père & Fils

History of Champagne Agrapart Père & Fils

The story begins in 1894, when Arthur Agrapart founded his winegrowing business in Avize during the Belle Époque. From the outset, the family chose independence, making and bottling its own wines, a practice then very rare among small Champagne growers. The house weathered wars and economic crises before Pierre, the founder’s grandson, rebuilt it in the 1950s and 1960s with a firm focus on quality rather than volume.

In 1984, Pascal Agrapart succeeded his father and inherited four hectares of vines. Over four decades, he expanded the vineyard to twelve hectares, refined its plot-by-plot approach from 1995 onward and established an interpretation of Champagne terroir that is now a benchmark worldwide. The estate remains a grower-producer, buying no grapes from outside. Since 2018, Pascal’s son Ambroise, the fifth generation, has worked alongside his father and continued this pursuit of precision. The house is among the few Champagne estates awarded three stars by La Revue du vin de France, alongside the region’s greatest names.

Terroirs and Vineyards of Champagne Agrapart Père & Fils

The vineyard covers around twelve hectares divided into some sixty small plots. The heart of the estate, nearly ten hectares of chardonnay, lies in the Grand Cru villages of the Côte des Blancs: Avize, Cramant, Oger and Oiry. There are also chardonnay plots in Premier Cru and neighboring villages (Avenay-Val-d’Or, Bergères-lès-Vertus, Mardeuil and Vauciennes), plus around one hectare of pinot noir in Avenay-Val-d’Or, a Premier Cru village of the Montagne de Reims. Planting density reaches 8,000 vines per hectare, the vines average around forty years of age, and some plots are more than sixty-five years old.

Pascal Agrapart distinguishes three types of soil, all resting on the chalk bedrock of the Côte des Blancs: shallow soils over pure chalk, deeper clay soils and clay-limestone soils. This geological understanding underpins the estate’s three vintage single-plot cuvées. The vineyard has always been plowed without herbicides, using estate-made compost and manure tailored to soil analyses. Some plots, such as La Fosse aux Pourceaux, are still worked by horse. Hand-managed, open trellising allows wind and sun to help limit treatments, which are applied in very small amounts according to pest and disease pressure.

Winemaking at Champagne Agrapart Père & Fils

The grapes are harvested by hand and selectively picked at perfect ripeness, never below 10 degrees of potential alcohol to avoid any vegetal character and rarely above 11 degrees to preserve freshness and drinkability. They travel in ventilated crates, washed after each use, and are pressed promptly in traditional 4,000-kilogram Coquard presses. Pressing is slow and selective, followed by static settling without enzymes for ten to twelve hours.

Fermentation begins solely with the grapes’ native yeasts. The vintage wines are vinified or aged in oak barrels (demi-muids), not to impart oak flavor but to allow gentle oxidation, while temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks held at 22 degrees are used for wines destined for the non-vintage cuvées. The wines rest on their lees until bottling for secondary fermentation; malolactic fermentation is consistently encouraged, and tartaric stabilization occurs naturally in winter. Bottling takes place in mid-May without fining or filtration. For Avizoise and Vénus, the secondary fermentation takes place under a cork secured by a clip. The bottles age in chalk cellars at 10 degrees, are riddled by hand, disgorged around sixty days before release and dosed with a liqueur made from the current year’s wine and cane sugar. The non-vintage wines are sold at least three years after harvest; the vintage wines, after seven years.

The Cuvées of Champagne Agrapart Père & Fils

7 Crus Brut: the signature blended cuvée, made from approximately 90% chardonnay and 10% pinot noir from the seven villages where the house owns vines (Avize, Cramant, Oger, Oiry, Avenay-Val-d’Or, Bergères-lès-Vertus and Mardeuil). A multi-vintage wine, it is partly aged in oak barrels and spends three years on the lees. A complex nose of hazelnut and spice leads to a fresh palate of white fruit and white flowers. The ideal introduction to the world of Agrapart, perfect as an aperitif or with seafood.

Terroirs Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru: a blend of the finest press fractions, made from 100% chardonnay sourced exclusively from the Grand Cru villages of Avize, Oger, Cramant and Oiry, from old vines and two vintages. After three to four years on the lees, the wine is taut, pure and linear, with remarkable precision in its citrus notes. One of the most compelling non-vintage Blanc de Blancs in all of Champagne. Also available in magnum and jeroboam.

Complantée Extra-Brut Grand Cru: a statement cuvée from a single plot in Avize, at the La Fosse site, planted in 2002 and 2003 with the six Champagne grape varieties (chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot meunier, pinot blanc, arbane and petit meslier), harvested and co-fermented together. Barrel-vinified, it reflects the estate’s conviction that terroir matters more than grape variety. Lively and distinctive, it combines cherry, lemon, lime and a touch of almond with a taut structure. Serve with poultry or white meat.

Rosé Brut 1er Cru: produced in tiny quantities by the estate, this rosé combines chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs with pinot noir from Avenay-Val-d’Or. True to the house style, with no embellishment or excessive dosage, it shows fresh red berries and a saline finish. A rare cuvée for lovers of food-friendly rosé.

Pinot Avenay Blanc de Noirs Brut Nature 1er Cru: the estate’s most recent creation, made from 100% pinot noir from the single Champ Saint-Bernard plot in Avenay-Val-d’Or, midway up a southeast-facing slope where deep clay soils overlie the chalk. Vinified plot by plot in demi-muids, with native-yeast fermentation and full malolactic fermentation, it is bottled without fining or filtration, with the secondary fermentation under a cork secured by a clip, then spends sixty to seventy-two months aging on racks. Pale gold with copper highlights, it offers aromas of raspberry, redcurrant and cherry, a fine, peppery palate and a chalky finish. No dosage.

Minéral Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru: the first of three vintage single-plot cuvées, from old vines in Avize and Cramant planted on the most limestone-rich, chalky soils, notably in Bionnes and Champbouton. The wine gains remarkable chalky, saline minerality, vertical tension and aromatic purity. Dosage is kept to an absolute minimum to let the soil speak. A benchmark terroir-driven Blanc de Blancs, also available in magnum.

Avizoise Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru: a vintage 100% chardonnay from the Robarts and Gros Yeux plots on the slopes of Avize, where a thick layer of clay covers the chalk. The fifty- to sixty-year-old vines yield a dense, generous and deep wine with notes of apple, toasted hazelnut, wax and subtle smoke. Barrel-aged and bottled for secondary fermentation under cork, with dosage limited to around 3 grams per liter, it is the estate’s most food-friendly and voluptuous cuvée.

Vénus Brut Nature Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru: the house’s emblematic single-plot cuvée, from a single 60-are plot in Avize, La Fosse aux Pourceaux, where chalk reaches the surface at the top and clay predominates below. No machinery is used: the vineyard is worked by hand and horse, in tribute to the mare that gave the cuvée its name. The secondary fermentation takes place under cork; disgorgement occurs two months before release, and there is no dosage. A champagne of exceptional intensity and precision, produced in very small quantities.

Expérience Brut Nature Grand Cru: the estate’s ultimate pursuit of champagne made without additives, crafted from old vines in Avize. The secondary fermentation is initiated by adding unfermented grape must from the following vintage, a process now known as the Agrapart method. With no dosage, fining or filtration and sulfur kept to an absolute minimum, the cuvée offers a wholly honest expression of Avize terroir: minerality, tension, finesse and energy. Successive vintages bear the EXP designation.

Vieux Millésime: an age-worthy version of the Minéral cuvée, kept for many years on the lees under cork before late disgorgement. Its time in the chalk cellar brings remarkable tertiary complexity, with pastry, dried fruit and saline notes, while preserving the terroir’s chalky freshness. A collector’s bottle released in very limited quantities.