When I visited A.D. Coutelas in September 2021, three things were on the top of my mind from the tasting at the domaine: firstly this is how to Blanc de Blancs should taste and secondly how serious and super complex Louis Victor Solera Cuvée is with less than vintage champagne price. Thirdly how fine and sophisticated the Cuvée 1809 was. Aftertaste was still there long after appointment was done

Angélique and Damien Coutelas (that’s the name A.D. Coutelas) are the eighth generation to be at the head of this family Champagne House founded in 1809 in Dizy by Louis Victor Coutelas.
After studying vine growing and wine making in Avize, Damien decided to succeed his parents in 2005. He started with vinifying separately the about 50 estate plots to bring out the very best of each and create the Cuvée 1809.

The vineyards are aged between 30 and 60 years old and are composed with three grape varieties: Pinot Meunier in the Marne Valley, Pinot Noir in the Montagne de Reims and Chardonnay in the Côte des Blancs.
The whole energy is focused on the soil work, with a very detailed work on each plot enabling to harvest high quality and well-balanced grapes.

The approach is both following the traditions and using modern and innovative techniques.

The Champagne House is respecting the organic farming principals and obtained the highest HVE (High Environmental Value) certification in 2020. This means that they do care about biodiversity on their lands and horses are still in use for harvest.

Wines are exclusively made from the best part of cuvée’s, and part of them are aged in oak casks, before the second fermentation in bottle. Some cuvées haven’t the malolactic fermentation to keep their freshness and character. A long ageing in bottles, minimum four years and up to nine years, is the sign to recognize champagnes with a real identity.

Diligently working on their own land, Damien and Angélique Coutelas are also selecting grapes out of the best Champagnes terroirs, to craft elegant and expressive Champagnes. This way, they can raise the production up to 120.000 bottles per year.