This particular area in Champagne is undoubtedly the one possessing the richest history, which produces a wine acclaimed by generations of leading journalists, writers and poets… and yet, is little known.

Very few people have ever sought to probe beneath the thin layer of vegetation covering the hill sides and, in the depths of the chalky fissures, to extract the minerals, in the same way as do the roots of the Pinot Noir : the minerals which import a delicate finish to the wine.

Very few people have ever experienced the Valnon hillside shimmering under a July sun and watched the crows circling at dawn in the warm air currents, or seen the grape-pickers glistening with dew drops and sweat, the secators sticky with sugar : a multitude of intense memorable emotions.

The long trails of fleecy mist drift slowly along the river and gradually enshroud the village and surrounding hillsides. Then, all at once, driven by a sudden breeze, the mist clears like a magician’s cloak, revealing a sunny valley and imparting a pleasant, minty freshness, symbolizing the incomparable rounded elegance of the Pinot grapes of Aÿ.