Le Gallais

Charlotte Le Gallais makes her champagne on the family estate in Boursault in the Marne valley. The vineyard lies on the left bank of the Marne, close to the Château de Boursault, which was built for Madame Clicquot-Ponsardin, and looks out across the river. The house works as an independent récoltant-manipulant: it uses only grapes from its own clos.

Family and clos

In 1927 the great-grandfather of today's grower bought land from the famous Château de Boursault. Hervé Le Gallais founded the champagne house in 1998. His daughter Charlotte joined him in 2010 and took over in 2015. She is a fifth-generation grower. Her father still works in the business. The family farms a small walled vineyard of 4 hectares.

Sites, grape varieties and way of working

The three Champagne grape varieties are spread over seven plots around the estate. The planting is 45% Pinot Noir, 45% Pinot Meunier and 10% Chardonnay. The vines are 45 years old on average. This figure comes from an older report.

The press, tank room and ageing cellar are all in the clos, only a few hundred metres from the last plot. This keeps the fruit fresh at pressing. Picking is by hand. Since 2025 the seven plots have been certified Agriculture Biologique.

Cuvées and visiting

At the Vignerons Indépendants competitions, the cuvées to have won awards include La Grande Vigne (blanc de blancs), Cuvée Prestige (blanc de blancs), Rosé, Cuvée du Manoir and the brut nature Cuvée des Cèdres. The manoir that gives the Cuvée du Manoir its name is a Renaissance building in the grounds of the château.

Visitors are welcome. Visits are by appointment, with opening hours Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5.30pm. At the end of a tour of the clos, three cuvées are tasted on the glass-roofed Terrasse des Abbayes, with a view over the Marne valley. If you like, there is also an introduction to sabrage, the art of opening a champagne bottle with a sabre.