Drappier

The roots of the Drappier family reach back to the Middle Ages, when the Cistercian monks of Saint Bernard built at Urville, for the Abbey of Clairvaux, the residence that still houses the Maison today. Its vocation for winegrowing took shape in the Napoleonic era with François Drappier and was handed down from one generation to the next. In the twentieth century these Champagnes won over General de Gaulle, who remained a devoted admirer from the time of his retreat to Colombey-les-Deux-Églises.

The Maison is based in Urville, in the Bar-sur-Aubois, where its roughly sixty hectares of estate vineyards stretch across a rare Kimmeridgian terroir, rich in limestone and akin to that of Chablis. The vines are planted mainly with Pinot Noir, alongside Chardonnay, Meunier and a few cépages oubliés such as Arbanne and Petit Meslier, brought back to life by the Maison, under a fully organic cultivation and a production that has achieved carbon neutrality.

Here the wines rest in the ancient cellars carved out by the Cistercian monks in the twelfth century, joined since 1988 by the deep chalk galleries of Reims, dating from the Napoleonic era. Bound to these two landmark sites of the region, Drappier has preserved its independence, remaining apart from the great financial acquisitions of recent decades. Led by Michel Drappier and the eighth generation, the family today signs around 600,000 bottles that reflect, with restraint, the character of the Côte des Bar and its long tradition.