WINEMAKER
Antoine Berthelot
Established in 2023 in Verpillières-sur-Ource, Champagne
Antoine Berthelot is one of those young Côte des Bar names that immediately feels worth paying attention to.
Based in Verpillières-sur-Ource, in the Aube, his family has been growing Pinot Noir since the 1980s, but 2023 marked a real turning point: after decades of selling the grapes, Antoine began vinifying the fruit himself. With experience in Gevrey-Chambertin, Corsica, and Les Riceys, his approach is shaped by a clear idea — no compromise, neither in the vineyard nor in the cellar.
The vineyards are planted on south-facing slopes with shallow, stony, fast-draining soils — demanding conditions that naturally bring tension, depth, and character. In the vines, Antoine works with natural grass cover where possible, mechanical soil work, organic fertilisation, no herbicides or insecticides, and a sharp focus on each vintage rather than a fixed technical recipe.
In the cellar, the work is patient and precise: gentle pressing, light settling, natural malolactic fermentation, long élevage, mostly in used oak, no fining, no filtration, and no fixed idea of what the blend has to be. Each year starts from a blank page. All bottles are disgorged by hand à la volée, a detail that says a lot about the scale, the intent, and the craft behind the wines.
The result is Champagne with real personality: textural, serious, quietly ambitious — less about polished house style, more about place, patience, and the pure expression of Pinot Noir in the Côte des Bar.
