We work and harvest our grapevines ourselves, we vinify and raise our wine. We bottle and market our products ourselves, all within our house. For 3 generations, Jean-François Launay Champagne has been produced exclusively from grapes from the family vineyard.
It is in the heart of the Marne valley, on a hillside facing due south and on clay-limestone soils, that nature offers us to cultivate the vine and harvest quality grapes to develop exceptional wines.
View over our vines & the Boursault Castle
Our vineyard of just over 5 ha is located in the heart of the Marne Valley, the historic region of Champagne and the original terroir of Pinot Meunier. It extends over the municipalities of Damery and Venteuil (terroir from the Petits Mesliers in Champagne).
As growers and wineproducters, we master all the stages of manufacturing our Champagne; and we work with the family and by hand (pruning, tying, harvesting…); respecting our terroir and its natural balance.
Vegetation resumes its rights and first leaves appear (the budding). The young shoots which will not give grapes are pruned (the disbudding). At the end of May, beginning of June, the vines are raised above the ground and tied (the lifting).
Trellising begins: we separate the branches between them. The flower appears in the middle of the month, then the grapes are formed (fruit set).
After having rested on slats, our bottles are tilted on wooden desks to facilitate the descent of the deposit in the neck of the bottle with riddling. Our champagnes age between 15 months and 3 years before disgorging: the expulsion of the deposit takes place by freezing the neck of the bottle. The expedition liqueur is added in the bottle to obtain a “brut” or “semi-dry” champagne.
The soil is worked to control weeds. The long branches are cut, this is the trimming. It promotes the aeration of the trellis, the ripening of the grapes and limits diseases.
Bunches maturity is controlled, this is time for harvest. Harvesting is made manualy and the pressing is immediately carried out.
The juice is stored in our stainless steel tanks for a first fermentation. We get the “still” wine: without any bubble.
