The ‘family spirit’ behind Champagne Gardet’s 130th anniversary

Champagne Gardet’s 130th anniversary is cause for celebration, with its owner’s family spirit reflected in a vintage bottling. Christophe Prieux, owner of Champagne Gardet, may not come from generations of winemakers, but he is still intimately connected to the land of Champagne. Since the 17th century his family have tended the land and, even when his grandfather pivoted from agriculture to business, it was hardly a dramatic shift. He settled in Reims to become a gardener and nurseryman. It is thus little surprise that Prieux found himself drawn to the region’s emblematic trade. For two decades, he has worked in its wine industry, driven by the twin passions of high-quality winemaking and a love of the region’s history. Most notably, since 2007, he has headed up Champagne Gardet. Joining the established house offered an opportunity to work at scale and, equally importantly, to connect with local history. From its Belle Époque maison and still-used, century-old tuns, Champagne Gardet offers a slice of Champagne heritage. “What appealed to me,” says Prieux, “was the weight of history that you could feel all around you in this house.” Indeed, one of his favourite things about Champagne Gardet is how its family-led ethos survived against the odds. During a tumultuous decade – founder Charles Gardet died in 1913 and the First World War raged across the region – the brand was sold twice. Yet Charles’ son Georges stayed in the trade and, by the end of the 1930s, had bought back the family brand. With his daughter Clémence having joined Champagne Gardet in 2020, family is still central to its work. “I think this family spirit helps us to remain consistent in our approach,” he says, “to maintain a common thread and harmonious continuity between each generation.”

A cuvée for celebrating

Thus heritage, family and fine winemaking are coming together for “a whole year of festivities” at Champagne Gardet to mark the 130th anniversary. As a centrepiece to share with growers, business partners and customers, the Prieux family has unveiled a very special cuvée. Champagne Gardet Millésime Extra-Brut 2015 shows the hallmarks of the house’s well-honed style. It is led by fruit-forward Pinot Noir, the emblematic variety of premier cru village Chigny-les-Roses, where Champagne Gardet is based. The remaining 30% is Chardonnay – a fine mineral component that offers the characteristic finesse of Champagne. The winemaking choices, meanwhile, are informed by history: as is traditional, the cuvée uses only first press juices and utilises reserve wines aged in barrel. With eight years spent ageing on the lees and an extra-brut dosage of 4g/l, the vintage cuvée is both an unrushed and unadulterated expression of Champenoise winemaking. Moreover, the cuvée’s style builds on the blueprint of its 120th anniversary bottling, which released in 2015. That celebration was such a success that the Prieux family opted to develop it 10 years on. Indeed, the team now foresees and ongoing programme that marks each decade, a true continuation of Champagne Gardet’s unique heritage. After all, those tenets of quality, heritage and family are precisely what matter to Christophe Prieux. “On the one hand,” he says, “we hope that our Champagne house gains more and more notoriety; and, on the other, that it remains above all a great family adventure.”