Michel Arnould & Fils

Michel Arnould joined the family estate in Verzenay in the early 1960s with a clear aim: total independence. In 1961 he bought a house and a plot of land at 28 rue de Mailly, and built a winery there to match his ambition, with three underground levels, 1,500 square metres and two 4,000-kilo Coquard presses.

The family had worked vines in Verzenay long before him, thirteen generations back to an ancestor in the first half of the seventeenth century. It moved from growing grapes to making Champagne early in the twentieth century, though for decades part of the crop was still sold on. Michel's son Patrick joined in 1986, and Michel's son-in-law Thierry in 1995. By the end of the 1990s the estate had become a grower-producer, vinifying every grape from its own vines.

Thierry's son Thomas joined in 2022. The three of them now share the vineyard, the cellar and the selling, as time and inclination allow.

The estate farms about 12 hectares in Verzenay, 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay. The family works the vines itself, with its own team, and treats the vineyard as a place to experiment: trial plots, cover crops, leaf-thinning, ploughing and old-style trellising. In 2016 it was among the first estates to hold both the Viticulture Durable en Champagne and HVE certifications.

Two presses let the family keep grapes apart by sector and parcel. Oak goes into every cuvée, more or less depending on the wine, and whether a wine goes through malolactic is decided harvest by harvest. The range runs along two lines. The Pinot Noir line takes in Genèse, Atemporelle, a perpetual reserve, and vintage wines such as Mémoire. The Chardonnay-shaped line includes Acuité and Observation.

Michel set out for independence in 1961. It was complete once every grape from the family's vines was vinified at home.