Champagne Bonnaire – Interview With Jean-Emmanuel Bonnaire

The love of Champagne is infinite, a language that everyone can understand, a sparkle that can shine in anyone’s glass, it can connect people, brings them together and places a smile on faces around the world.

In this exclusive feature on Glass of Bubbly, we speak with Jean-Emmanuel Bonnaire, the Owner of Champagne Bonnaire, let’s discover a little about his life, his journey into the industry and one of his favourite Champagne memories.

It’s Great To Speak With You, Jean, Can You Tell Us A Little About Yourself & How Your Journey Into The Champagne Industry Began?

“My brother and I took over the family estate about 10/15 years ago. It’s a good time to really understand the challenge of this job and what you want to accomplish for your estate while you’re in charge and possibly thinking about the transmission to the next generation. Our father was the elder of three boys and had no real choice but to take over the family estate – back in the 1960s. He did not have the same approach with his four children and never put any kind of pressure. The two boys came back naturally to the estate after having different studies and experiences here and there – not obviously all wine related. I believe that was a good approach. It’s easier to make choices when you’re about 25 than 16/18 years old.”

Do You Remember Your First Experience With Champagne? When It Was And What Kind Of Label It Was?

“We were born and raised in Bouzy where Champagnes, vineyards, still red wines, etc. are omnipresent. I can’t recall my first encounter with Champagne as it’s always been there – at the table.”

How Rewarding And Challenging Is Managing Your Own Champagne House?

“It’s a real privilege to be able to produce wines from your own vineyards, I believe this to be true for all wine regions in the world. Since I’m back in Champagne, I’ve always loved this sentence from Hubert de Montille that I heard in a movie called Mondovino back in 2004 “Where there is wine, there is civilisation”.

It gives purpose to your life.

To be able to do that in Champagne enhances this feeling because of the great recognition the region and its wines have all around the globe. It opens doors pretty much everywhere and sometimes you just don’t need to travel many different visitors. It’s very enriching.

The list of challenges can be long but as for any company, organization or individual. For our generation, the biggest challenges are in the field with the vines. This is the starting point of everything and obviously our focus is there to maintain, anticipate the effect of global warming and transmit a healthy vineyard to the next generation.”

When It Comes To Pairing Champagne With Food, Do You Have Any Favourite Combinations That You Would Personally Recommend?

“I’m a cheese lover and each time I’m asked this question I tend to answer this simple pairing. Champagnes go very well with almost every cheese and if you can put your hand on some very mature Champagnes, this is a must.”

Can You Share With Us Some Of The Countries And Locations Around The World That You Can Enjoy A Glass Of Champagne Bonnaire?

“We are distributed in about 30 countries around the globe, there are many different places. I have a little place in my heart for Isola Elba in Italy where you can find some Bonnaire wines in very remote but beautiful places. Also for more tropical destinations, Puerto Rico has become an important market in the last few years and there is a small island in the Caribbean Netherlands called Bonaire. I have not been there just yet but it will come!”

What Future Plans Can Enthusiasts Of Champagne Bonnaire Look Forward To In The Coming Years?

“Back in 2016, we decided with my brother to reshape the range of our wines by focusing even more on our different terroirs and by crafting single-vineyard wines. It’s something that procures full traceability and pure precision on our wines. With those additional cuvées to come, we believe to have with both Bonnaire & Paul Clouet wines a very interesting representation of the diversity of wines in Champagne. In 2032, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the house, so we needed to have some wines ready for such an event.”

Can You Share With Us One Of The Most Memorable Experiences You’ve Enjoyed With A Glass of Bubbly?

“It’s a ‘breakfast’ during a harvest I made with a journalist about mature Champagnes. We shared a good selection of fine cheese and charcuterie along with different vintages up to 1975. Only wines from the house straight from the cellar. Harvest is an intense period, it was a very nice break where time stops and I was thinking that all the efforts can eventually bring all these emotions. It’s like we could not stop eating and drinking and sharing.

Outside my wines, I keep a very fond memory of Charles Heidiseck 1989 in Jeroboam and Piper Heidsciek 1971. It was a revelation on the ageing capacity of our wines here in Champagne. Wines from the 1970s are excellent paired with cigars.”

Thank you Jean-Emmanuel, for sharing your story and experiences with us and we at Glass of Bubbly wish you the very best for the future!

Images belong to Jean-Emmanuel Bonnaire. Glass of Bubbly was granted permission to use them.