Art of the “vigneron”

TONY V: Interpreting  the philosophy and “art”  of the “vigneron”
In the nineteenth century, in the French Champagne region an intense activity involving lots of small “vignerons” developed as they began selling their grapes to the Negociants or Maisons that produced fine wines.  Currently, the “vignerons” own 90% of the Champagne vineyards while the Maisons have control over 70% of the wine produced and sold.

The Champagne “vignerons” have shaped the French vineyards in such a way as to get the best from their “terroir” (land).  Season after season, men and women work on the vineyards, caring for them so that they give life to the best grapes.  Being a “vigneron” means carrying out the work of the winegrower with passion, something that goes way beyond the execution of simple tasks in the vineyard. Typical Champagne vineyards are made up of numerous plots, all different from each other.  Over the course of the years, the Champagne “vignerons” have lived by carefully observing the characteristics of their vineyards and by listening to their needs with patience and a love for their land, which is particularly delicate and... capricious. Generation after generation, at the heart of every “vigneron’s” family, the passion for such excellence is passed on, as they proudly hand on a tradition that is subject to constant innovation, especially in terms of the mechanisation process necessary to cope with this type of cultivation, that is so prized.