Pertois-Lebrun

The story of Pertois-Lebrun Champagne really began in 1955 with our grandparents Paul Pertois, a winegrower in Cramant, and Françoise Lebrun, a winegrower in Mesnil-sur-Oger. They were the founders of our family winery and it was one of their three daughters, Odile, who took over running it.

We two brothers, Clément and Antoine, were the sole potential representatives of the 5th generation of winegrowers … but we grew up in Provence! Our future in Champagne was far from being planned in advance.
And yet, not wanting to see the family estate disappear, it was our responsibility to come to Champagne to take it over.

Clément, who had always been a nature lover, close to the land and growing things, was the first to come and join his aunt Odile in 2004, with a clear vision of what a winegrower’s work should be: to recreate the value of the terroir and reveal the wines’ identity.
His younger brother, Antoine, decided to come on board in 2013 after leaving his professional career as a consultant in Paris. Attracted by this great entrepreneurial and brotherly adventure, he devoted himself to managing the estate to create new impetus.

Today our motivation and our commitment are still as true: we are perpetuating the family heritage, imbuing it with our sensitivity and offering you the result of work done by two brothers and several lives, Champagne Pertois-Lebrun.

Cramant, Le Mesnil-Sur-Oger, Chouilly, Oger, Oiry… five villages classed as Grand Cru in the prestigious Côte des Blancs, the favoured chardonnay region. These are also the five villages within which our 9.5-hectare vineyard is spread.

We approach work on the vines with respect and humility, and always with the greatest care. Our ambition is to express all the finesse and elegance of chardonnay, as well as revealing the variety and individuality of our 44 plots, representing a real mosaic of terroirs, each with their own separate identity.

To achieve this we use eco-responsible winegrowing techniques, giving priority to the life of the plant and the microbiological composition of our soils, whilst voluntarily reducing the vigour and yields of our vines.

This means that we restrict the use of synthetic products as far as possible, preferring instead to use biological treatments and aromatherapy, naturally produced soil conditioners and plant decoctions to strengthen the vine’s natural defences. Insecticides and herbicides are banished; we work our soils mechanically, encouraging natural grass and weed growing.
With this approach the root network penetrates deeper into the sub-soil to extract its quintessence.
This range of practices is naturally reflected in the quality of our grapes, an indispensable factor for wines that express all the aromatic nuances and frank minerality of their terroirs of origin.

In recompense of our efforts, our vineyard has been certified Haute Valeur Environnementale and Viticulture Durable en Champagne (High Environmental Quality and Sustainable Winegrowing in Champagne) since 2019.

It all starts with the grape harvest! Listening to both the vineyard and the elements we adapt to every vintage. Nature dictates the ideal timetable and harvesting route for optimal maturity and aromatic expression of the grapes.

As far as possible during pressing we separate the juices of each plot for greater precision and a better understanding of our terroirs. The cuvees, or first pressing juices, are preferred for their purity and concentration of sugar and acids.

In our search for authenticity we intervene in the work of the wines as little as possible, in order to preserve their individual soul and identity. This is why the wines undergo nine months of maturation on fine lees, without filtering or fining. With the usage of a variety of containers, such as stainless steel, concrete or stoneware tanks or oak barrels, the wines reveal various facets of their personality.

After bottling, the work done by time is essential to ensure that our blanc de blancs can find their equilibrium and reveal their potential; patience is important here… So our cellars are home to our precious wines for ageing on lees for at least four years and for up to eight years for our most prestigious cuvees.