Champagne Pannier – The history of the champagne house
Champagne Pannier looks back on a history of more than a hundred years. The champagne house was founded by Louis Eugène Pannier near Épernay in 1899, but when Maison Pannier was able to purchase a 12th-century cellar in 1937—which comprises an incredible length of 2.5 kilometers and a depth of 30 meters—the company relocated to Château-Thierry, a small municipality in the Vallée de la Marne. In 1974, the négociant house was sold to a winegrowers' association, which still manages Pannier today.
Champagne Pannier – Champagne from the Vallée de la Marne
Champagne Pannier has been firmly rooted in this region ever since. The Vallée de la Marne growing area covers around 11,500 hectares and is one of the sub-regions within the Champagne AOC. It owes its name to the Marne River, which flows through Champagne from east to west. Although all three champagne grape varieties are grown in the cool Marne Valley, the focus is on Pinot Meunier (62%), a red, late-ripening grape variety that is significantly more robust against frost than Chardonnay (16%) and Pinot Noir (22%). The Vallée de la Marne begins in the east near the town of Aÿ and follows the course of the Marne river for about a hundred kilometers westward to Charly. In the east, the soils are rich in limestone, while towards the west, the soil becomes increasingly heavy with sandy loam and clay.
For almost 40 years, Philippe Dupuis has been the Chef de Cave, or cellar master, at Champagne Pannier, shaping the house style with his coupages, for the assemblage—the artful blending of base wines from different vintages, grape varieties, and vineyard sites—is the true secret behind high-quality champagne. In 2020, he passed on all his champagne expertise to Yann Munier, who has now taken responsibility for the elegant champagne range of Maison Pannier. A style characterized by Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir, but blended with a not insignificant amount of Chardonnay. Pannier champagne is released to the market with a minimum bottle aging of 3 years.
For instance, the Pannier Brut is a fresh champagne with notes of white flowers and citrus fruits combined with brioche, perfectly suited as an aperitif. Its high proportion of Pinot Meunier gives it an incomparable fruitiness. Just like the Cuvée Brut, the rosé champagne from Pannier has impressed us. A rosé that owes its aroma and color to the addition of red wine.
Perfection is the goal of the house, which is why the Champagne Pannier logo features an archer as a symbol of balance, skill, and dexterity. This archer can also be found on the walls of the medieval cellar, where a stonemason immortalized him.
