Aurore & Florian Laval

About

Owners & winemakers: Aurore & Florian Laval
Vineyards: 6.5ha across nine different parcels
Vineyard management: Lutte raisonnée, in conversion to organic
Soils: Clay-limestone
Grapes grown: Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
Annual production: 30,000 bottles

Quick facts:

• Brother and sister Florian and Aurore are making wines from their family estate in Boursault, and created their own label in 2020.
• The playful insects on the labels represent the children in the family.
• “Our champagne in three words: Meunier, nostalgic, and dreamlike.” – Florian Laval

Brother and sister Florian and Aurore Laval took over their family domaine in 2019. Their father Michel Laval had established the estate in 1979. Florian and Aurore continue to make champagne under their father’s label, but they established their own label as well in 2020. Aurore focuses primarily on the vineyards, while Florian takes the lead in the cellar. Their 6.5ha of vineyards are located around the village of Boursault on chalky clay-limestone soils. Plantings are dominated by Meunier (70%), with some Pinot Noir (28%) and a bit of Chardonnay (2%) as well. Winemaking is minimally interventionist, with the goal of creating champagne that expresses fruit character. The base wines are fermented and aged in various vessels, with about half in oak barrels of different sizes and half in stainless steel tanks. Florian prefers to use a higher proportion of “tailles”, or second pressing, in the blend, which adds body and richness to the wines. Each of the nine parcels is vinified separately. He also makes some of the most distinctive ratafias we’ve come across, including a ratafia rosé made from fortified Pinot Meunier press wine aged in sandstone eggs.

Florian tells us that he’s making a champagne that has a story to tell: “I like to make the parallel between our childhood memories and wine, because champagne can be nostalgic–it evokes the aromas and thus the memories of childhood.”