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VILMART & CIEGrand Cellier Brut Premier Cru

Name: VILMART & CIE Grand Cellier Brut Premier Cru
Brand: VILMART & CIE
SKU: vlmgcbr
Price: 27500 HUF
Availability: InStock

Bottle price

HUF 27 500

Member price

HUF 26 125

Unit price: HUF 36 667 / litre. Our prices are gross prices.

Stock information

To generalise, one might say that at a classic champagne house, visitors are greeted by opulent spaces, elegant staff and manicured English gardens — while at a grower’s estate, you’re immediately seated around the family table or tasting from an upturned barrel with the winemaker themselves. Yet generalisations falter here, because even in Champagne, exceptions exist — Vilmart being the prime example.

We first visited the estate in 2019. Though we knew we were arriving at one of the region’s most authentic grower-producers, stepping into the courtyard revealed something unexpected: the patina and elegance of the half-timbered building spoke an entirely different language. These very values resonate in every bottle of Vilmart Champagne.

Their approach and style remain decidedly classic — Laurent Champs makes no attempt to shy away from Champagne’s prestige, and his bottles are every bit as coveted as those from the grandes marques. Luxury and elegance are as much a part of this story as local grape varieties and subtle bubbles. Yet what truly drives this estate is a grower's heart — working exclusively with their own grapes, employing unique methods and maintaining exceptionally high standards. Profound flavours, remarkable maturity, precise and vibrant acidity, brilliant luminosity, with a slow and luxurious mousse.

Every base wine undergoes barrel fermentation, and unlike conventional practice, they preserve, rather than ferment out, the must's natural malic acidity, transferring it intact into the wine. These are two fundamental techniques that few master as completely as Vilmart.

Vilmart's most renowned wine, in which the house style finds its purest and most powerful expression.

Rilly-la-Montagne, Premier Cru, 30 year old vines
70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, fermentation in large, 40-50 hl barrels
10 months of ageing
dosage: 8 g/l

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Member price

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Producer

Vilmart & Cie

The style of the cult Champagne estate is entirely unique, and it goes back to old methods: all base wines are fermented in oak barrels, and contrary to the usual way, they don’t carry out malolactic fermentation, but they lift it into the wine.

The history

The house was founded by Désiré Vilmart, in the heart of Rilly-la-Montagne, at the foot of Montagne de Reims, in 1890. Later it was taken over by his son, Charles, who was followed by his grandson, Renan (Charles’ son). By then, they’d become independent and confident players in the wine region. After the Second World War, Renan reconstructed the building over the intact cellars, and they have been welcoming their guests here ever since.

In 1963, Renan's son-in-law, carpenter René Champs, took over the management of Vilmart. He transformed the experience he had received from his father-in-law, showing good sense: he had been experimenting with biodynamics in the vineyard and filling the cellar with large barrels since 1970. In 1989, his son, Laurent Champs, joined before taking over the entire running of the estate in 1995. He kept all the core values but fine-tuned the details wherever he could.

He is a generous character who talks about the estate with calm in his voice and precise wording. He’s now the most highly-regarded producer of the wine region.

Until the harvest

Vilmart cultivates the entirety of its own vineyards, the furthest of which is on the outskirts of the village, barely a kilometre from the cellar. The varietal composition is unusual – Pinot Noir makes up 90% of the grapes in the village, however, most of the Vilmart areas have Chardonnay. From the beginning, only his own grapes have been vinified at the cellar, with one exception – the only neighbour to deliver his crop in good years is Laurent’s cousin. “I couldn’t say no to his Chardonnay. He cultivates it the same way as we do, on top of that, it’s next to our best plot. I gave up on the RM title [Récoltant Manipulant – grower estate] because of these few grapes,” adds Laurent.

After the harvest

It’s not surprising that only the best bunches are transported to the cellar, where they are put into the 50-year old Coquard press without destemming. This is followed by slow winemaking, the must is settled via the gravitational method, then it is put into barrels where it ferments with its own yeast. The wines are bottled after 10 months of ageing, which is when the secondary fermentation starts, with 3 to 4 years of bottle ageing for non-vintage, while in the case of vintage, it’s 5 to 8 years of bottle ageing.

“I primarily make wine. That provides the basis of everything. Turning it into sparkling wine is the topping, for my greatest pleasure.” – Laurent Champs.

Vilmart’s style
The style of the house is sophisticated and extremely enjoyable. Deep flavours, maturity, precise and lively acids, a glittering appearance, slow and rich bubbles. All base wines are fermented in oak barrels, and contrary to common practice, the natural malic fermentation is blocked, instead they lift it into the wine, which includes two such steps that only a few know as well as they do at Vilmart.

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