The first winemakers in the family really struggled to grow vines.

They had to go to farmers in the village to top up their income. Champagne gained popularity and small winemakers got together in cooperatives to make it their main business.

Julien Paille, Christophe’s grandfather on his mother’s side, co-founded the one in La Neuville in 1956. The small businesses joined forces so they could buy equipment. They tended their vines independently, picked the grapes and brought them to the cooperative where the grapes were pressed and returned as bottles of champagne. The families could then sell the bottles that stated RC: Récoltant Coopérateur (cooperative winemaker). Virginie’s grandparents were part of the cooperative in Cuchery and Hautvillers.

From cooperative to independence.

Arlette and Jean Claude took over from Julien and Antoinette and, after several years, they decided to leave the cooperative and go it alone in 1991.
Christophe had just graduated in viticulture and had the skills they needed to make the move.
Once we became a Récoltant Manipulant, we were in charge of every stage of winemaking, from vine to wine. We now grow vines on 8 hectares in La Neuville, Cuchery, Dormans and Hautvillers


• Key figures:
• 33,843 hectares of farmed vineyards
• 16,055 Champagne winemakers
• 302 million bottles sold in 2018 including:
• 55 million by Récoltants Manipulant
• 27 million by cooperatives
• 220 million by major brands

In 1996,

Virginie took over half of her retired parents’ winery and in 1996 she married Christophe and began working at the winery. They held onto the Patis Paille brand named after Arlette and Jean Claude’s surname.

Our predecessors have passed on their love for a job well done in our vineyards, as that’s where it all starts and where the magic happens: if you want good champagne, you need good grapes