Champagne Virginie T
Jacques, Ferdinand and then Yolande Kunkelmann, grandmother of Virginie, were the successive proprietors and managers of Piper-Heidsieck from 1851 to 1988. It was acquired by Pierre Taittinger in 1932, the champagne house was managed by Claude Taittinger from 1960 to 2006.
Virginie Taittinger is the daughter of Claude Taittinger, CEO of Taittinger for 46 years, and Catherine de Suarez d’Aulan whose family owned Piper-Heidsieck from 1851 to 1988. She was genetically programmed to become a grande dame of champagne!
In 1986, she joined the company for more than 20 years, where she learned about production handling, international marketing and other sparkling wines in California and Val de Loire.
Her son, Ferdinand Pougatch joined the adventure in August 2015. After graduating from McGill University in Canada he spent 3 years working in the wine and spirit world in NewYork. He is in charge of the e-commerce and the international development.
Time is needed to understand and love the Champagne making steps. It is crucial to integrate the younger generation in the Champagne making process to create the style and the soul of tomorrow’s Champagne. The empathy between mother and son is integral to creating beautiful champagne for today.
The Champagne House is based in Sillery and is dedicated exclusively to producing exceptional cuvees. The Champagne House is situated at the food of the Montagne de Reims, at the heart of the finest vineyards in Champagne.
Their Champagnes have a wide diversity of aromatic expression. They favour the usage of Pinot Noir grapes from Montagne de Reims. 85% of the rigourously selected grapes are classified as “Premiers & Grands Crus”.
It is in the cellars that the Champagnes become sparkling, due to a second fermentation in the bottle. The prolonged ageing on the lees in the cellars under perfect conditions in terms of temperature and humidity allows the flourishing aroms of the vintage and significantly enhances the taste of the Champagnes. It also benefits from resting for a minimum of 6 months following conditioning in order to achieve perfect maturity.
The dosage is the final stage in the Champagne production that determines the category in which the wine is: Brut zero, Extra-Brut, Brut, etc.
