Champagne Gatinois

The family's presence in Aÿ dates from the 1696 marriage of Nicolas Le Cacheur and Françoise Remy, and twelve generations have followed at the foot of the Aÿ hillsides. In the early 20th century Emile Michel-Le Cacheur was an active champion of the growers' cause in Champagne, and in 1911 he was one of the founders of the Syndicat Général des Vignerons. In 1921 his daughter Marie married Charles Gatinois, and the Gatinois name then appeared on the bottles. After the Second World War, Emile and Micheline Gatinois took over the domaine. From 1980 to 2010 their daughter Marie-Paule and her husband Pierre Cheval ran the estate, and over those thirty years they expanded production. Pierre Cheval founded the Villa Bissinger (Institut National des Vins de Champagne) and chaired the Paysages du Champagne association. Their son Louis Cheval took over in 2010. The house works independently as a récoltant-manipulant, making its champagnes only from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grown on the family vineyard.

• 1696: marriage of Nicolas Le Cacheur and Françoise Remy, the start of the family line in Aÿ
• 1911: Emile Michel-Le Cacheur is one of the founders of the Syndicat Général des Vignerons
• 1921: his daughter Marie marries Charles Gatinois; the Gatinois name appears on the bottles
• After the Second World War: Emile and Micheline Gatinois take over the domaine
• 1980 to 2010: Marie-Paule and Pierre Cheval run the estate
• 2010: Louis Cheval takes over

Louis Cheval runs Champagne Gatinois in both the vineyard and the cellar. He took over in 2010 after a first career as a geologist, and he represents the 12th generation of the family to grow vines in the region. In the vineyard he works toward two aims: preserving the style, quality and typicity of the house, and protecting the terroir and its environment.

• Louis Cheval: runs the estate, vineyard and cellar
• Former geologist; took over in 2010
• 12th generation of the family to grow vines in the region

The estate owns 7.2 hectares of vines, all in the grand cru of Aÿ and planted almost entirely with Pinot Noir. About five hectares go into estate-bottled champagne, and the rest of the fruit is sold to the négoce. The holdings are spread over 27 parcels. The family vineyard sits on the Aÿ hillside, and its named lieux-dits include Chaufour, Cheuzelle, la Croix Courcelles, le Han, Valnon, Vauregnier, Chatillon and Bonotte. Bonotte and Vauregnier are two of the estate's best south-facing plots, and the Pinot Noir from them was picked at 11.2 degrees potential alcohol in 2020. Vineyard work favours manual labour.

• 7.2 hectares, all Aÿ grand cru, almost entirely Pinot Noir
• About five hectares for estate-bottled champagne; the rest sold to the négoce
• 27 parcels, among them Chaufour, Cheuzelle, la Croix Courcelles, le Han, Valnon, Vauregnier, Chatillon and Bonotte
• Bonotte and Vauregnier: south-facing plots; Pinot Noir picked at 11.2 degrees potential alcohol in 2020

Grapes are picked only by hand and sorted at the foot of the vine, and only the oldest, best-sited parcels are kept for the house. Pressing is done in a traditional vertical Dollat press installed in 1984. The musts are vinified in small vats, and after several rackings the wines are ready for tirage (bottling) and laying down in the cellar around Easter after the harvest. There is no fining, no filtering and no cold stabilization, and the wines always go through a natural malolactic fermentation. Oak is never used for the champagnes; wooden barrels are used to make the red wine. After several years of ageing, the bottles are riddled and disgorged one by one, and disgorgement is carried out à la volée, without freezing the neck of the bottle. Dosage on the current cuvées is 6 or 7 grams per litre.

• Hand harvest with sorting at the vine
• Vertical Dollat press installed in 1984
• Small vats; tirage (bottling) around Easter after the harvest
• No fining, filtering or cold stabilization; natural malolactic fermentation
• No oak for the champagnes
• Riddling and disgorgement bottle by bottle; disgorgement à la volée
• Dosage: 7 g/l for the Brut Tradition and Brut Réserve, 6 g/l for the Brut Millésimé 2015 and Brut Rosé

Every champagne in the range is a grand cru. The Brut Tradition is a non-vintage blend of 80 percent Pinot Noir and 20 percent Chardonnay with 30 percent reserve wines, aged at least two years sur lattes and dosed at 7 g/l. The Brut Réserve uses the same 80/20 blend but spends three years sur lattes, also at 7 g/l. The Brut Millésimé is made only in the greatest years and in very small quantities; the 2015 is 90 percent Pinot Noir and 10 percent Chardonnay, aged eight years sur lattes and dosed at 6 g/l. The Brut Rosé is a blended rosé: the house's white base wines combined with a red Coteaux Champenois made only in the sunniest years from the 'petits Pinots d'Aÿ' of the oldest parcels. It is 90 percent Pinot Noir and 10 percent Chardonnay, three years sur lattes, at 6 g/l. The Coteaux Champenois Aÿ-Rouge is a still red, 100 percent Pinot Noir, made only in the best years from the oldest Pinot Noir parcels, planted in pure chalk. The crop is barely half a normal harvest; the grapes are fully destemmed, macerated and fermented slowly at low temperature with manual pump-overs, and the wine spends 18 months in oak casks.

• Brut Tradition: 80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay, 30% reserve wines, at least 2 years sur lattes, 7 g/l
• Brut Réserve: 80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay, 3 years sur lattes, 7 g/l
• Brut Millésimé 2015: 90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay, 8 years sur lattes, 6 g/l
• Brut Rosé: 90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay, 3 years sur lattes, 6 g/l
• Coteaux Champenois Aÿ-Rouge: still red, 100% Pinot Noir, 18 months in oak casks

Champagne Gatinois presents its wines as grand crus in a generous, distinguished style, with Aÿ Pinot Noir as their backbone of power and structure and Chardonnay adding tension. The house credits its champagnes with considerable ageing potential.

Peter Liem's ChampagneGuide calls Gatinois a 'highly respected estate'. A Decanter panel of Michael Edwards, Simon Field MW and Tim Hall scored the Gatinois Tradition 89 points at its Grower Champagne panel tasting of 1 March 2017, calling it 'a workmanlike construction, built on a soft cornucopia of red fruit'.

The house has always been based in the heart of the old village of Aÿ, in a traditional half-timbered winegrower's house at 7 Rue Marcel Mailly. Its tasting cellar receives visitors by appointment throughout the year.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.champagnegatinois.com/un-esprit-familial/, https://www.champagnegatinois.com/notre-domaine/, https://www.champagnegatinois.com/ay-grand-cru/, https://www.champagnegatinois.com/un-style-unique/, https://www.champagnegatinois.com/vin/grand-cru-brut-tradition/, https://www.champagnegatinois.com/vin/brut-reserve/, https://www.champagnegatinois.com/vin/brut-millesime/, https://www.champagnegatinois.com/vin/grand-cru-rose/, https://www.champagnegatinois.com/vin/coteaux-champenois/, https://www.champagnegatinois.com/contact-fr/. Secondary sources: Peter Liem's ChampagneGuide, https://www.champagneguide.net/producers/; Decanter (Giles Fallowfield, 20 April 2021), https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/champagne-2020-wines-vins-clairs-tasting-456645/; Decanter panel review, https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/france/champagne/gatinois-gatinois-tradition-champagne-france-12792/. Last verified 2026-10-21. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.