Hearing the nature
Love for our land, search for the expression in our wines; these founding values of our philosophy leads us to work with respectful and sustainable methods in our vines and cellar.
Since 2013, all of our vineyards are worked with organic principles (with certification), a commitment to a culture without any synthetic pesticides, herbicides or chemicals fertilizers.
The protection against rot is done with natural fungicides, like sulfate and copper sulfate, in addition to vegetal preparations elaborated at the domain with local plants (nettle maceration, horsetail infusion).
The purpose is to help the vines fight diseases with their own natural defenses instead of curing the disease itself with the use of chemistry. To do so, preserving a steady and dynamic ecosystem in our parcels is essential ; when micro-organisms, plants and animals interact, they are able to balance each others excess.
Life of the ground
Made of clay, sand and chalk, the soils of La Montagne de Reims are a unique combination of elements from which our wines sources their typicity. For us, respecting our soils and preserving their health remains the best way to produce authentic wines for a long period.
For this reason, we leave the vegetation to grow year round in our vine rows; under the action of the roots the soil stays aerated and rich in humus, creating excellent conditions for the vine plant.
Between April and July, we control the growth of the local weeds to favor the access to nutrients for the vine roots. This is done by superficial ploughing of the ground, an operation that encourages the vine roots to go deeper and extract the mineral substances from the soil, producing tastier juices and wines, really influenced by the nature of their terroir.
The Vinification
From the harvest, each step of the winemaking is thought out in order to preserve the aging potential of the wine and reveal its natural quality by using soft and gentle methods.
Pressed by parcel or groups of parcels, the juices flow into the decanting vat under the action of gravity. Pumped over the day after, they are quickly put in fermentation with our own yeast culture, previously developed from our vineyard grapes. This technique has been developed at the domain to limit or avoid the use of sulfits in our vinification process.
The choice of the vinification container depends on the origin of the grapes and its ability to age. About 30% of our wines are made in french oak cask (228l and 400l), the remaining 70% are fermented and grown in stainless steal or concrete vat.
A patient work
Most of our wines do not go through any filtration or finning process. Their clarification occurs naturally during the winter, when the cellar temperature drop down. Whether in barrels or vat, the wines stay on their lies for a minimum of 7 month before the bottling, building up their structure and refining their taste.
Every year, 35 to 45 % of the new harvest joins the reserve for an extended aging in our cellars vats. This « taste memory », initiated by André Bonnet 50 years ago, is the base of our Non Vintages cuvées identity. It contains a tiny fraction of every precedents vintages, blended together in a Solera style method, bringing complexity and constance over the years.
After the bottling and the prise de mousse in the freshness of our caves, each bottles will mature for a minimum of 36 months, up to 10 years for the vintages cuvées. The disgorging, still done at the house by Cyril Bonnet and his team, adds the final touch of the Bonnet-Ponson Champagne crafting, along with the addition of a touch of the house made « liqueur d’expédition ».