Blanc de Blancs
Grand cru
Vineyard and terroir
Our vines are cultivated on two old terroirs, Chouilly and Avenay-Val-d’Or.
Chouilly is one of the 17 Grand Cru villages in Champagne, for the quality of the grapes and of the terroir. The vines grow on a soil of chalk that can be up to 150 meter deep. That chalky soil slowly formed 80 million years ago, when the sea was expanding over the Champagne area. Nowadays, this very chalk brings all the finesse and mineralogy to our Harmonie cuvée, made from our oldest plots, planted in 1939 and 1958.
Avenay-Val-d’Or, or Avenay, is one of the 44 villages labeled as Premier Cru and is located in Vallée de la Marne sub zone, next to Aÿ. As in Aÿ, pinot noir is the most planted grape variety.
We grow as well pinot noir on our only plot, planted in 1975. The soils are a mix of limestone and clay with flint and are suitable for pinot noir.
It all started when my grandfather’s grandfather, Victor Carton, moved in Oiry.
Born in 1866 and starting from scratch, he started to work as a road mender in Oiry and then as a farmer and winegrower.
He also became Mayor of Oiry.
(Victor Carton (6 mars 1866) (Mayor of Oiry) born in Saint-Prix - Mérite Agricole in 1923)
His daughter Georgette Carton married Marcellin Legras and then their son, Marcel Legras - born in 1919,
also worked as a farmer and a winegrower after his return from Germany where he was held captive during WWII.
He then married Geneviève Frapart.
In 1979, they started selling champagne and created their brand, Champagne Legras-Frapart & Fils », with their son, Guy.
My parents Guy and Sophie too worked on the family estate and developed the brand.
With my wife Lina, we are the 5th generation and keep on writing a story started more than century ago.
Georgette Carton (1895) - Marcellin Legras
Marcel Legras (1919) - Geneviève Frapart (1922)
Guy Legras (9 avril 1950) - Sophie Legras (5 octobre 1951)
Villages around Oiry and of course, Oiry;
Here you can find other places like Epernay, Reims and Chalons en Champagne. In the middle of all this cities, you can see the village Oiry where this wonderful Champagne is made, it's not a big village, but it's a wonderful one.
