Vincent Brochet

Écueil is a Premier Cru village on the Petite Montagne de Reims. The Brochet family has lived there for several generations. They started out as farmers and grape suppliers, and after the war became grower-producers. Vincent Brochet set up as a winemaker in the 1990s, acquired Domaine Les Croix in 2010 and shortly afterwards began selling champagne under his own name. The address on the Rue de Villers aux Noeuds is still the family home today.

Handing over the reins: from Vincent to Gaspard

His son Gaspard was born in 1995, grew up among the vines of Écueil and is the nephew of the well-known grower Emmanuel Brochet. He first worked in graphic design and came back in 2013. In 2019 he took over the family estate's 3.18 hectares, which had previously traded as Champagne Vincent Brochet. Since 2024 his labels have carried the historic name Domaine Les Croix again. A word of warning: both names, Vincent Brochet and Gaspard Brochet, are in circulation among retailers.

Sites, vines and way of working

The domaine covers 3.2 hectares in 14 parcels in the Premier Cru villages of Écueil, Sacy and Villers-aux-Nœuds. Some details online give 14 hectares, but several sources point to a little over 3. Some of the vines were planted in the 1950s and 1960s. Pinot Noir dominates, with Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier alongside. Les Plantes is a Chardonnay vineyard that has long belonged to the family. It was planted in 1982.

“In 2019 he took over the family estate's 3.18 hectares, which had previously traded as Champagne Vincent Brochet.

Since 2022 the estate has worked on biodynamic principles. There are no herbicides and no artificial fertiliser, just handwork and home-made compost. The wines are fermented in tank and then age for 22 months in 228-litre oak barrels. Bâtonnage is carried out 15 to 25 times, depending on the cuvée.

A la volée Werkzeug

Cuvées, visits and tastings

The range includes the Brut Nature cuvées of the 333 series and the vintage L'Abreuvoir 2016, Gaspard's first vintage cuvée. From the Vincent era comes the Premier Cru MMXV 2015, made from 30 per cent Chardonnay and 70 per cent Pinot Noir. It spent 84 months on the lees and has zero grams of dosage.

A tasting can be booked through the Champagne Booking portal for €30 per adult and lasts 90 minutes on average. In the high season from May to October, it is wise to reserve several weeks ahead.