Interview With The President of Champagne Alexandre Bonnet – Arnaud Fabre

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 article we speak with Arnaud Fabre, the President of Champagne Alexandre Bonnet, let’s discover a little about his time in the Champagne Industry.

Tell Us About Your Role As President & How You Got Into The Wine/Champagne Industry?

“A President does nothing.. and everything at the same time! The actual role of a President is to give a vision to the company and ensure it is shared among the team so as to harness their efforts towards success. It’s also my role to represent the Domaine to the customers and the media.

I don’t deserve any credit as I was born into a wine family, winegrowers from the Medoc and the Languedoc. Then I figured out a new trend was emerging in Champagne towards terroir wines that’s why I joined Alexandre Bonnet with the vision to reveal this outstanding, exceptional Cru of Les Riceys in the Côte des Bar, the #wildchampagne.”

As The President of Champagne Alexandre Bonnet, What Can We Look Forward To?

“In a smaller company such as Alexandre Bonnet, the president is involved in numerous aspects of the business including vineyard management, winemaking, production or finance. Furthermore, I personally supervise marketing, sales and communication/PR. I’m also the manager of our quality supervisor. With Didier Mélé we think of the next steps of our high-standard viticulture, with Irvin Charpentier we refine year after year our blended and single-vineyard Champagnes as well as our still wines, and I manage a team of 3 sales for France and Export markets.”

What Is Special About The Terroir That Is Les Riceys?

“Les Riceys is the most southern village of Champagne, on the border with Burgundy, of which it has been part for 400 years before the French Revolution (1789). Therefore, if we definitely are Champenois, we also have heritage from a Burgundian spirit in our viticulture and winemaking. The strongest evidence of this is Rosé des Riceys, a particular still wine appellation that makes Les Riceys the only Cru among 320 in Champagne to produce three different AOCs. This is also due to our unique geographical setup: the soil is made of Kimmeridgian limestone that is totally different from the chalk of the North and is an ideal match with Pinot Noir, and the steepest hills in Champagne which offer a variety of exposures to the sun, giving the possibility to craft so many different wines from the same Pinot Noir grape variety.”

How Do You See The Future Of Champagne, Especially With Climate Change?

“At Domaine Alexandre Bonnet, our 50 ha own vineyards allow us to think about the future of viticulture in Champagne. In 2014 we planted the 7 historical grape varieties of Champagne in the same plot, in order to study them in today’s warmer climate. As a consequence, we have identified a variety called Arbane, which was difficult to grow a few decades ago, that in today’s conditions brings us elegant, complex and fresher wines. We consider the Arbane to be one of the solutions so we have planted one full ha that we will harvest for the first time this year 2024. There are more options: at the moment we’re planting a new plot with larger rows and taller vine plants, also our plantings are now done with our private massale selection to develop more diversity in our Pinot Noir, we have also introduced vitiforestry planting trees right into the parcels a few years ago, we’re putting a lot of efforts in soils management, etc. Man has always adapted to its environment and we’re finding out the solutions for a bright future of the wines of Champagne.”

Where’s The Most Memorable Place You’ve Enjoyed A Glass of Bubbly?

“Maybe was it on a boat around Saint-Barthélémy French Antilla Island, cheering to the wedding of a good friend in this paradise-like environment?”

Thank you Arnaud, for sharing your words, knowledge and experience with us and we at Glass of Bubbly wish you the very best for the future!

Images belong to Champagne Alexandre Bonnet. Glass of Bubbly was granted permission to use them.