Champagne Barnaut

Champagne · France

A family house of winegrowers based in Bouzy, a Grand Cru of the Montagne de Reims, Champagne Barnaut has been making its own champagnes since 1874. Bouzy Pinot Noir sets the tone, supported by a lively, expressive Chardonnay.

Certifications

Champagne Barnaut, Panorama du village de Bouzy (clocher) et des coteaux de vignes, champ de blé au premier plan

1874 Edmond Barnaut's first bottles in Bouzy
6 Generations of winegrowers since the founder
7 Champagne cuvées, plus the Bouzy Rouge
17 out of 319 Champagne crus classified Grand Cru, including Bouzy

I · The story

A perpetual cuvée since 1874

In 1873, Edmond Barnaut married Apolline Godmé-Barancourt, a descendant of a very old winegrowing family from Bouzy. Together, they decided to keep and vinify the wines of that memorable year. Part was bottled in 1874; the rest was kept to begin a perpetual cuvée that continues to this day. The Champagne Edmond Barnaut brand was born.

Edmond Barnaut was one of the very first winegrowers, perhaps the first, to believe that a great wine could be born directly from the terroir and bear the name of his family. Since then, six generations have followed one another in Bouzy, united by the same high standards: preserving the identity of this terroir where Pinot Noir reigns supreme, without neglecting Chardonnay.

A century and a half later, Philippe and Guillaume Secondé, the fifth and sixth generations, carry on the founder's philosophy. The family does everything itself, from tending the vines to bottling, and each bottle ages for several years in the house's centuries-old cellars. Le Chemin des Goësses is the first cuvée conceived by Guillaume.

Champagne Barnaut, Philippe et Guillaume Secondé (5e et 6e générations) dans les vignes, maisons de Bouzy derrière

“With viticulture that has the least possible impact on the environment and winemaking that is as simple as possible, we want to express our terroir naturally, without artifice and without giving in to fashion.”

Philippe and Guillaume Secondé

II · The terroirs

Bouzy, Grand Cru of the Montagne de Reims

Bouzy is one of the 17 crus classified Grand Cru out of the 319 listed in Champagne. The village is renowned for the power and elegance of its Pinot Noir. The house's vines there lie on a pure chalk subsoil covered with clay-limestone soil, with a consistent south-facing exposure.

The holdings, scattered across the whole terroir, offer such a diversity of wines that they allow the house to make seven different Champagne cuvées and the Bouzy Rouge. The Grande Réserve comes more than 95% from Bouzy, complemented by Ambonnay and Louvois. The climate is that of the Paris Basin: mild winters, uncertain springs, hot summers and cool autumns.

Le Chemin des Goësses brings together two plots handed down by Guillaume Secondé's grandfathers: Les Vignes Goësses, planted with Chardonnay in Tours-sur-Marne, and La Remise du Chemin de Louvois, in Tauxières-Mutry. A few hundred metres apart, they lie where the Vallée de la Marne, the Montagne de Reims and the extension of the Côte des Blancs meet.

AOC Champagne Grand Cru
AOC Champagne Premier Cru

Champagne Barnaut, Le Clos de Bouzy en automne : rangs de vigne aux feuilles dorées devant le mur du clos

Flagship estates

I
Bouzy
Grand Cru of the Montagne de Reims, birthplace of the house
II
Clos de Bouzy
A clos enclosed by century-old walls, planted with Pinot Noir
III
Tours-sur-Marne and Tauxières-Mutry
The two plots of Le Chemin des Goësses

Champagne Barnaut, Rangs de vigne au printemps dans le Clos de Bouzy

Champagne Barnaut, Cuverie inox au premier plan, le clos et les maisons de Bouzy derrière

Photo d'archives colorisée : ouvriers roulant des fûts devant le cellier de la maison Barnaut, à Bouzy

III · The craft

Time as an ingredient

Barnaut cuvées are built on the principle of the perpetual cuvée. Each year, a portion of the wines is kept in reserve and blended with the new harvest: the reserve makes up half of each bottling. The Grande Réserve thus continues, without interruption, the blend begun in 1874.

In the vineyard, the house practises sustainable viticulture: organic fertilisers, cover cropping and other agroecological techniques. Old vines are no longer pulled up but interplanted, to preserve their genetic potential. The grapes are picked by hand and carried in white crates to limit heating.

In the cellar, winemaking is kept simple: traditional pressing, flotation settling, fermentation at 18 °C in stainless steel vats, ageing on fine lees and malolactic fermentation. The wines are bottled in July, once mature, then age for several years in the cellar before release.