Producer Durdon Bouval

FRANCE, CHAMPAGNE

A smile will never fail you from the first time you meet this wonderful and colorful family. Ludo was a great, versatile athlete from a young age, and soccer was his true passion. A knee injury then interrupted this dream, which was bringing him personal and sporting success, so he decided to begin working in the family vineyards, realizing that physical labor was rediscovering his athletic calling. Following an untimely death in the family, in 2000 he decided to begin converting the company's historic 2.5 hectares to organic farming. Ludo had always supplied his grapes to the Vincelles agricultural cooperative, of which he had even served as president for one term. Over the years, he and his cheerful and equally cheerful wife, Sandie, had three children. Antoine, born in 1998, after two years as a manager at Pierre Paillard in Bouzy (Montagne de Reims), where he witnessed biodynamic practices in the vineyards and spontaneous vinification in wood in the cellar, decided to return to the family project to give it new impetus. Ludo and Antoine are two enthusiastic, energetic people with a thousand ideas; Sandie balances the father-son relationship, directing the company's operations. Antoine's younger sister, Sipriane, is finishing her marketing and communications studies in London and will soon join her mother in sales. In recent years, they have managed to reclaim an incredible vineyard on the Barzy-sur-Marne hillside. From this vineyard, there is a marvelous view of the Marne Valley, almost like a belvedere. The vineyards in this area always overlook the typical morning mists, and the vines are literally planted on limestone. At the same time, they have renovated a cellar where they can begin producing wines the way they like them: spontaneous fermentations, low doses of sulfites, and, in the future, oak, to give them their own voice in the Marne Valley. Given the supply contracts they have with the Vincelles Cooperative, they have currently produced 15,000 bottles from 7.5 hectares of vineyards, and they aim to reach around 70,000 bottles. This is a Champagne we like: young, sparkling, full of energy, with great prospects.