Champagne Duval-Leroy

Duval-Leroy is a family business, established in 1859 through the merger of two Champagne growers. The company is still based in its village of origin, Vertus. Handed down from father to son, it has remained independent for 148 years.

Champagne Duval-Leroy is now headed by one of the very select few of women who run Champagne Houses – Carol Duval-Leroy.

After the sudden loss of her husband in 1991, she became the company chairwoman. For ten years, the modernisation of production processes, the development of traditionnal distribution channels, the increased product range and expanded exports are all objectives that Carol Duval-Leroy has set for her company.

Today’s the brand’s whole image bears the mark of her passion for his profession.

The family runs a 200 hectare vineyard in Vertus, a village nestling in the heart of the Côte des Blancs, where the Duval-Leroy family home has existed since 1859. This independent supply, on a scale rarely found in Champagne, provides one quarter of the company’s annual grape requirement. A major asset, it guarantees the quality and consistency of Duval-Leroy Champagne.

At Duval-Leroy, more than 30 people manage the vineyard all year round, giving each vine the attention and loving care that it needs. For the harvest, 500 grape pickers join the permanent staff for the major event in the wine grower’s calenda

With five hundred hectares of vines, Vertus (with 2500 inhabitants) is now the second largest wine-growing district in the Champagne region, after Les Riceys. It has had rather an eventful history. An important regional centre during the Middle Ages, it was entirely destroyed once during the Hundred Years’ War and then again during the Second World War.

Today it enjoys its status as a thriving community based on its qualification as one of the top Premier Cru rated areas in Champagne.

Written by Stephane Barlerin

www.duval-leroy.com