History
Arriving from Bohemia, Jean-Baptiste Nowack chose to make his home in Champagne, on the right bank of the Marne Valley in the small village of Vandières, whose name means ‘to give wine’.
The family developed a business specialising in the manufacture and firing of bricks, roof tiles and fountain pipework, which were stamped with the name Nowack and sold throughout the valley.
Later, Jean-Baptiste’s son Pierre-Ferdinand took over the family enterprise while continuing to cultivate a small piece of vineyard that he had inherited from his mother.
Ferdinand, Pierre-Ferdinand’s grandson, acquired his father’s plots of vines and devoted himself to winegrowing. He was almost 30 when the phylloxera crisis destroyed the vineyards of Champagne.
With much work, however, he rebuilt his vineyard and went on to become a talented winemaker. In 1930, he received the French Order of Agricultural Merit rewarding exceptional service to agriculture. He was the first Nowack to officially become a winemaker.
Very early on, Ferdinand instilled in his son his love of winegrowing, gradually passing on to him the secrets of his savoir-faire and his vines.
Ferdinand was to become a recognised winemaker, winning prizes two years running at the Concours Général Agricole de Paris in 1935 and 1936 for his red Coteaux Champenois wine. This wine was made with 100% Pinot Meunier grapes and sold under the name ‘Vin Nature de la Champagne’.
His son Bernard in turn also enjoyed success with the surge in popularity of champagne in the 1960s. In response to this new market demand, he increased the number of wines produced by Maison Nowack and in doing so strengthened its foundations and helped it to grow.
The story continues today with Frédéric and Flavien for whom the passion for winegrowing and winemaking and the love of the land and terroir are fundamental parts of who they are.