Piollot Pere Et Fils

Polisot lies in the Côte des Bar in the Aube département, in the south of Champagne and closer to Chablis than to Reims. The Piollot family has worked vines here since the 19th century. The first ancestor on record is Athanase Piollot (1817 to 1906), listed in the civil register of Polisot. The house itself speaks of five generations, while the English version of its website counts six. Today Roland Piollot and his wife Dominique Moreau run the estate. Dominique Moreau also owns the house of Marie Courtin. Their daughter Jeanne works alongside them.

From selling grapes to bottling their own wine

For decades the family sold its harvest, latterly to the local cooperative. In 1986 Roland Piollot decided to go his own way. Since then the estate has made and bottled its own champagnes. His father Robert had already made a name for himself as a grafter from the 1950s onwards, cycling out to growers across the Côte des Bar to do the work. Even today, replanting comes from the best of the estate's own vines.

“The first ancestor on record is Athanase Piollot (1817 to 1906), listed in the civil register of Polisot.

Vines and way of working

The 8.5 hectares all lie in Polisot, on Kimmeridgian marl with clay and limestone, mostly facing south. Pinot Noir dominates with 62 per cent. Alongside it are 20 per cent Chardonnay, 11 per cent Pinot Blanc, 6 per cent Pinot Meunier and 1 per cent Arbane. More than half of the vines are over 40 years old. Since 2009 Roland Piollot has farmed without chemicals in the vineyard. Organic certification followed in 2014 and Demeter certification in 2019. More recently, sheep have been grazing between the rows. In the cellar each plot is vinified separately, partly in wood. Fermentation runs in part on natural yeasts from the vineyard. The house favours low dosage or none at all.

Weinberge Champagne

The cuvées

• Cuvée de Réserve: 70 per cent Pinot Noir, 30 per cent Chardonnay, fermented in wood, at least four years on the lees, Brut with 6 g/l.
• Come des Tallants: pure Pinot Noir from a single site of under one hectare with a southern exposure, Brut Nature, four years of bottle ageing.
• Colas Robin: pure Pinot Blanc, the Val Colas Robin site was planted in 1955.
• Champs Rayés, MePetit, Les Protelles: further single-site and varietal cuvées, mostly with no dosage.

Whether and when visits and tastings are possible is best checked directly with the estate at 13 Rue de Tonnerre, 10110 Polisot.