Alexandre Bonnet is a Champagne House which has grown over several generations while maintaining its family character. Its Pinot Noir vineyards cover 103 acres grouped around Les Riceys. The harvest provides almost all the needs, although additional grapes are brought in to complete some of our Cuvées, in particular Chardonnay from the great Côte des Blancs vineyards. The creation of a great Champagne marries the skill of a craffstman with the latest technology. This has been the hallmark of Alexandre Bonnet for more than three generations. *** Our Champagne house lies in the distinctive southern Champagne vineyards of the Aube. "Les Riceys" is a fine old village with Renaissance churches and a seventeenth-century chateau. Its natural situation is equally fortunate with steep limestone hills and clay top soils, providing ideal conditions for Pinot Noir grapes. Les Riceys is a unique in Champagne in producing : Champagne, Coteaux Champenois, and the very rare Rosé des Riceys. The soils and aspect of each slope give the grapes their own characteristics. The southern slopes produce Coteaux Champenois and Rosé des Riceys, whilst the Champagne blends are formed from combination of vineyards to create a harmonious balance. In Champagne, harvest is still done by hand; bunch of grapes are selected and picked with great care to arrive in perfect condition for pressing. *** To produce Champagne of the best quality, great care must be taken of the vines. Each step from the winter pruning to the autumn, harvest has an influence on the finished Champagne. Grapes from each vineyard and each variety are blended in specific proportions, giving the Champagne a personal style to produce the Alexandre Bonnet character. At the harvest the grapes are carefully selected and picked, sector by sector at their peack of ripeness. After pressing and analysis the juice is separated out into fermentation vats. After the last fermentation the blends are finally assembled and the wine bottled. It then undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle on it lees. These deposit of yeasts add to the flavor and complexity of the Champagne, whilst the fermentation produces carbon dioxide which gives the Champagne its bubbles. We still use traditional presses for some of our Cuvées, although we also have one of the most modern press houses in the whole Champagne. Grapes from each sector are pressed and kept separate until the blending. Blending consist of mixing one, two or three authorised grape varieties : Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. Although two pressing are permitted in Champagne, we only use the first - the Cuvées - in our Champagnes.