Champagne Marie Copinet

Villenauxe La Grande, Champagne, France

Marie-Laure Copinet sits at the helm of the estate, having worked with her family in the Sézannais for over twenty years. In 2015, she and her husband Alexandre brought together their respective family holdings to create a new 9-hectare domaine. This marked a decisive new chapter: a consolidation of parcels across three significant sectors of the region, and an opportunity to fundamentally rethink both viticulture and winemaking.

With a couple of exceptions, the estate now farms Chardonnay from the Sézannais (with the winery based in Villenauxe-la-Grande), Pinot Noir from the Côte des Bar, and Pinot Meunier from the Vallée de la Marne. These three origins provide markedly different geological foundations — the white clay and chalk of Sézanne, the Kimmeridgian limestone of the Côte des Bar, and the heavier clays of the Marne Valley — forming the backbone of Marie-Laure’s terroir-focused philosophy.

From the outset in 2015, she converted the vineyards to organic viticulture, prioritising soil vitality and long-term ecological balance. Biodynamic principles have since been introduced in selected parcels. Her approach is rooted in observation and site expression, with an emphasis on farming for full physiological ripeness. As a result, her wines are never chaptalised.

In the cellar, her intentions are very focused and very clear. Fermentations rely on indigenous yeasts, all the wines are allowed to go through malolactic fermentation, with no fining or filtration, zero dosage, and minimal sulfur. The focus is on single-vineyard, single-variety, single-vintage bottlings that clearly articulate origin. The resulting style is vinous and linear, structured more by site and texture than by autolytic character — a deliberate move away from the heavily lees-driven, overtly brioche-dominated profiles often associated with Champagne.

A clear expression of this philosophy is her singular cuvée “Argilla Villonissa,” vinified and aged in custom-made large clay eggs crafted from the same white clay found in her Chardonnay parcels in Villenauxe-la-Grande. It is a tangible extension of site into vessel.

In a region where tradition often dictates method, Marie-Laure Copinet stands among a small minority pursuing a rigorous, terroir-first path — reshaping the identity of her family estate through precision, independence, and a clear commitment to place.