Champagne Pannier – The History of the Champagne House
Champagne Pannier looks back on more than a hundred years of history. In 1899, the Champagne house was founded by Louis Eugène Pannier near Épernay, but when Maison Pannier was able to purchase a 12th-century cellar in 1937, which was an astonishing 2.5 kilometers long and 30 meters deep, the company relocated to Château-Thierry, a small commune in the Vallée de la Marne. In 1974, the négociant house was sold to a winemakers' association that still runs Pannier today.
Champagne Pannier – Champagne from Vallée de la Marne
Champagne Pannier has since been firmly associated with this unique region. The Vallée de la Marne growing region covers around 11,500 hectares and is one of the sub-regions within the Champagne AOC. It owes its name to the River Marne, 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 westwards for about a hundred kilometers to Charly. In the east, the soils are rich in limestone; towards the west, the soil becomes increasingly rich with sandy loam and clay soils.
For almost 40 years, Philippe Dupuis has been the Chef de Cave, cellar master, at Champagne Pannier, shaping the house's style with his blends, because assemblage, the artful composition 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 knowledge to Yann Munier, who has now taken over responsibility for Maison Pannier's elegant champagne range. A style that is characterized by Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir but blended with a not insignificant amount of Chardonnay. Pannier's champagne is released with a minimum bottle aging of 3 years.
Thus, the Pannier Brut is a fresh champagne with notes of white flowers and citrus fruits in combination with brioche, perfectly suited as an aperitif. Its high proportion of Pinot Meunier gives it an incomparable fruitiness. Just like the Cuvée Brut, Pannier's Rosé Champagne has impressed us. A rosé that owes its aroma and color to the addition of red wine.
Perfection is the house's goal, 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.
