x
  • Time

    11:37 AM
  • Wine average?

    81 Tb
  • Country Ranking?

    1015
  • Region Ranking?

    222
  • Popularity ranking?

    240

History

Driven by a taste for innovation and a well-known dislike of following the herd, Xavier Loriot Champagne reinvents its champagnes every year. Contemporary by nature, the family business is committed to a mission to create a sensation every time it brings out a wine. Rejecting the established rules, the men and women of Xavier Loriot Champagne allow free rein to their intuition and talent.

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Vineyards

Inspired by a quest for excellence, the family firm works hard on its vines, seeking to provide just the right level of care to match the sensitivity of nature. Their favourite grape is none other than Pinot Meunier, one of three used in making its cuvées.

Over the generations, Xavier Loriot Champagne has acquired vine-growing expertise. Passed on to each generation, today, this working philosophy makes it possible to grow vines in a respectful, well thought-out way. 

To ensure healthy vineyards, Xavier Loriot uproots some vines almost every year. This long-term work is carried out painstakingly using the back planting method. It consists of removing only the aging vines and not the whole plot. In this way, the family firm ensures healthy vineyards, guaranteeing that high-quality grapes are always produced.

 

Charlène and Marine need deliberation and skills to find the best possible solutions to problems with the vines. The approach begins with observation and a precise analysis of needs, always preferring to use as little treatment as possible. Tallying – a technique consisting of observing the presence of parasites on the leaves in order to anticipate disease and treatment – takes place every week. The shoots removed at each pruning are sprouted and placed back in the plots to feed the fauna and flora present on the site.

Further proof of Xavier Loriot Champagne’s commitment to sustainability: permanently asking questions about vine-growing. To ensure the very highest quality is always maintained, Xavier, Charlène and Marine impose strict, precise specifications, putting them always one step ahead of forthcoming regulations.

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Winemaking

Xavier Loriot Champagne demands precision and expertise at the crucial pressing stage. To ensure complete control, Xavier bought a latest-generation 6,000 kg Diemme press in 2003. The first of its kind in the world, this pneumatic closed tank press produces the best possible quality juice, limiting waste thanks to full control of the pressing force.

At grape harvest time, Charlène, Marine and Xavier each go to different plots on the estate to coordinate the best time for picking the grapes. To ensure equivalent quality between one year and another, selection operates depending on the type of soil and the grape variety. 

Once the juice has been extracted, each batch of must is rated depending on its origin and the grape variety. It is given a rating of between 1 and 3. The best rating is reserved for premium quality.

 

When it was founded in 1981, Xavier Loriot Champagne decided to equip itself with a 120,000-litre stainless steel and enamel fermenting tank, allowing it complete freedom in designing its cuvées. 

Wishing to preserve its independence from the time of its foundation, Xavier Loriot Champagne equipped itself with a 120,000-litre stainless steel fermenting tank. This precise, technical tool allows Xavier complete control of the production and quality of his wines, allowing him to express himself in each one.

 

Charlène regularly works with her father in constructing cuvées, choosing to let nature operate as far as possible. Alcoholic fermentation occurs naturally, allowing wines to reveal their full sensory potential. Malolactic fermentation is carried out with “house” yeasts selected by Charlène. This makes the wines more supple and rounded. 

Xavier Loriot Champagne carries out all stages of winemaking as naturally as possible so that the terroir and the typical features of each grape variety are revealed. It is thanks to this commitment and an intangible strength of character that Xavier Loriot Champagne has managed to establish itself as a creator of sensations.

From the origins of the brand in 1891, Xavier Loriot Champagne has demanded absolute independence in making its cuvées. Thanks to the installation of his first press, Xavier can proudly boast the status of independent wine-grower. Family representatives dearly wish to preserve this status, which guarantees them complete freedom, both over their vines and the general directions of the brand.

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Inside information

The birth of Xavier Loriot Champagne was made possible by the will of one man: George Jobert. Born in 1891, this young wine-grower with a strong temperament cultivated a small plot of vines in Binson-et-Orquigny, a village with a population of 500 lying between two slopes of vines, surrounded by forests. His wife Raymonde Deniz, born in 1899, was also from the village. Her family grew 1.5 hectares of vines on the same slopes. The couple worked together to take the family farm forwards. Some years after meeting, the couple had their only child, a little girl named Paule Jobert.

 

Paule Jobert was born in 1920 in Binson-and-Orquigny, in the Marne valley. The young woman took the reins of her parents’ business alongside her husband, Gilbert Clouet. With two hectares of the family farm plus Gilbert’s hectare, the couple cultivated three hectares. 

Accompanied by their four children – Danielle, Bernard, Maryse and Hervé – the couple

decided to join forces and invest in an additional hectare of vines to increase production, moving from three to four hectares. Inspired by the same single desire, the couple decided to launch Gilbert Clouet Champagne. 

The years passed and the business prospered. In the fifties, Paule and Gilbert decided to leave one hectare to each child so they could, in turn, be bold enough to chase their dreams. 

 

Danielle, the eldest in the family, wanted to impose her view of the Champagne region and champagne wines. Accompanied by Roger Loriot, whom she married in 1959, the couple combined their heritage to work three hectares of vines on the slopes of the Marne valley. The family grew with the birth of Xavier, their only child. 

Like her parents before her, Danielle invested in an additional hectare with her husband. When the time came, the couple threw themselves into creating their own brand, and Champagne RC Loriot was officially launched in 1961. To limit their investment, initially they decided to have their grapes pressed at the local cooperative. Once this stage was complete, Champagne RC Loriot recovered the fruit of its labour to carry on with winemaking.

 

After some years, Xavier Loriot succeeded his parents. Inspired by the same passion, he cultivated his parents’ four hectares under the RC Loriot brand. In 1961, he met Christine Marsault, a local girl also from the world of wine-growing.

Together, they developed the family business, growing more than five hectares of vines. Their unfailing determination led them to undertake their own project, creating a new brand. In 1981, Xavier Loriot Champagne was officially established. Wishing to create an operation in their own image, the couple decided to build everything, from the fermenting tank to the press, including the storage buildings. The following decade was full of good news, with the birth of their two daughters: Charlène in 1986 and Marine in 1990.

To gain independence and improve the quality of their champagnes, Xavier and Christine decided to invest. They replaced their 2,000 kg press with a Vaslin 4,000 kg model. But their cutting-edge vision invited them to push back the technical boundaries. In 2003, they purchased a latest-generation 6,000 kg Diemme press, the only one of its kind in the world at the time. This total control of production allows them to make cuvées coming closer to the typical features of their terroir.

Benefiting from his parents’ experience, over the years Xavier decided to invest in more hectares of vines, developing the estate from 5.5 to 10.5 hectares. 

Xavier Loriot can now count on the support of Charlène and Marine in the future of the brand. This fifth generation of independent wine-growers is even more determined to make Xavier Loriot Champagne an essential player in Champagne.

 

 

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6 different wines with 9 vintages

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