Champagne Guilleminot

The estate's 35 parcelles span three villages in the Côte des Bars — Channes, where the heart of the domaine sits, along with Bragelogne and the celebrated appellation of Les Riceys. Each parcelle brings its own exposition, and the subsoil itself is a wealth of diversity, contributing different richness to each wine and giving Corinne a particular palette of influences to work with at assemblage. The Côte des Bars is the southern outpost of Champagne, south of Troyes — a region of rolling hills, distinct from the more famous vineyards around Reims and Épernay. The terroir here is increasingly recognized for its Pinot Noir, which finds particular expression in this corner of the appellation. Champagne of terroir, of family — the phrase Corinne returns to when describing what makes the wines here particular.

In Champagne, all grapes are harvested by hand — the mechanical harvester is forbidden — and at Guilleminot, that hand-harvest is followed by a gentle pressing. The juices begin fermentation, and the wines from different parcelles give still white wines that are then assembled. For Champagne is assemblage — the bringing together of different parcelles and different wines, including vins de réserve that contribute enormously and allow the house to maintain a consistent quality and style across vintages. The Brut Tradition is aged three years in the cellar — twice the required 15-month minimum — one of the deliberate choices the domaine makes for better quality. The Prestige is built around a réserve perpétuelle, a perpetually-replenished blend of reserve wines from which a portion is always drawn to craft the cuvée. The Prestige then undergoes five years of cellar aging. The recently released Extra Brut is drawn primarily from the 2020 harvest and given a deliberately lower dosage because the balance called for just a little less.

This is a Champagne of terroir and family — two phrases Corinne returns to throughout. Quality is achieved through patient choices: extended cellar aging well beyond required minimums, mandatory hand-harvesting, and careful work with vins de réserve to maintain a consistent house style. The house is structured around the réserve perpétuelle as a living thread — a blend that draws from itself across vintages, ensuring continuity even as each individual harvest contributes its own character. There is also a quiet ambition here: small experimental cuvées, like a still wine waiting patiently in the cellar, sit alongside the established range, signaling that this is a domaine still in motion. Always plenty of projects, in Corinne's words — "it is necessary in order to move forward."

Four generations of the Guilleminot family have made Champagne. The earlier generations cultivated the vines without yet making sparkling wine — it was Corinne's great-grandmothers who first set off on bicycle through the parcelles, beginning the cultivation the family has built upon ever since. Family remains central to the maison's identity, and to the daily reality of running the estate — "it is also the key to our exploitation," Corinne says. The angel in the house's logo carries its own family history: it comes from Corinne's father's grandfather, a stone engraver who discovered a small cherub in one of his sculptures, and that cherub became the symbol of the maison. It is part of the house's story Corinne notes has not yet been fully highlighted — one of the projects still ahead.

Brut Tradition — The house's entry point. Aged three years in the cellar (the minimum is 15 months), the Tradition is the accessible Champagne of the range: fruity, with a beautiful lightness and a lovely length. Built for moments where you want Champagne to be welcoming rather than declarative.

Prestige — Built around a réserve perpétuelle and aged five years in the cellar, the Prestige is far more complex and structured than the Tradition — substantial enough to open a meal. The continuity of the réserve perpétuelle gives the cuvée a layered, cumulative character that no single-vintage approach can replicate.

Extra Brut — A recent release, drawn predominantly from the 2020 harvest, with a lower dosage because the balance called for less. The reduced dosage gives the wine a leaner, more direct expression of the vintage.

Rosé — Assembled from coteaux champenois — a light red wine made after a short maceration designed to capture only fruit and no tannin — then blended with one of the house's more fruity white wines. The result has real presence, a deep color, and an accentuated fruit character. A Brut in dosage but generous in spirit, equally at home at the end of a meal or in the middle of an afternoon.

Belle Année — A millésime, released only when a harvest warrants it. The Belle Année isolates a single parcelle and a single wine — no assemblage, just the pure expression of the year. First made in 2002, then reintroduced in 2015. The 2017 is currently available; the 2020 will be next. Built for finesse and aging potential, not for the heady richness that vins de réserve can bring.