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This long-running estate originated in the 1600s, and once sold all of its grapes to the local co-operative. When Olivier Horiot took over from his father Serge Horiot in 1999, he decided to begin producing his own wines, including three cuvées and the local signature, rosé de riceys.

Olivier’s grandfather replanted the family estate post-phylloxera, and the vineyard now cultivates seven hectares of Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and some Arbanne. Two of these hectares are used for Olivier’s winemaking, while the remaining five hectares are still sold to the co-operative.

Olivier farms following biodynamic principles, ferments on native yeasts, and uses very little sulphur. However, the estate is not certified biodynamic as Olivier does not his wine to be consumed for that reason alone.

The estate is located in Les Riceys in the Côte des Bar, among the southern region of Champagne, where Olivier strives to make intense, complex champagnes, helped along by the vineyard’s exposition to the sun and rich Kimmeridgian soils. He and wife Marie work the vineyard together, driven by passion and a constantly curious mind.

For his first four vintages, Olivier focused on making still wines and the base wines for the Champagnes that were to come. He produced his first Champagne in 2004, with all four of his blends containing low dosages of residual sugar (never above 2 grams/litre). He vinifies each parcel separately to demonstrate the individual terroirs and the different profiles they yield.

The Rosé des Riceys appellation is a relatively new classification for the Champagne region, covering solely rosé made from Pinot Noir—something of an anomaly in the region of Champagne. There are only a handful of vignerons making this wine, and in very small quantities, so its is rarely seen outside France.