As a child, Nathalie Vignier often heard her father speak of the ‘hidden treasures’ scattered throughout the family's 16.5 hectares of vineyards in the Côte des Blancs and Côte de Sézanne — individual sites he believed possessed their own distinct personalities.
So in 2006, just ten years after taking over Champagne Paul LeBrun with her brother, Nathalie began hunting for those treasures and dreaming up a new project dedicated to her father’s vision.
Nathalie is no stranger to the Champagne world. She is the 10th generation of Vigniers to pursue viticulture and winemaking in Champagne, and the 6th generation to do so in the Grand Cru village of Cramant. Although she always dreamed of becoming a winemaker, she first pursued business school and a career as the chief agricultural expert for an insurance company, specializing in hail and frost damage to vineyards, before ultimately returning home to the family domaine.
With the help of her husband, Hubert Soreau—the man behind the tiny, sought-after Champagne Le Clos l'Abbé—and longtime family friend, Sebastian Nickel, Nathalie was finally able to bring that vision to life. Together, Nathalie and Sebastian founded J. Vignier, a project dedicated to bottling the individual vineyard sites her father had long believed deserved their own voice.
Today, they continue searching for exceptional parcels to vinify individually. What began as a search for a handful of ‘hidden treasures’ has become an ongoing exploration of the Côte des Blancs and Côte de Sézanne, with each new vineyard offering another expression of these remarkable Chardonnay-growing terroirs.
Join us as we welcome Kevin Pike of Schatzi Wines to taste through five Vignier Champagnes while exploring why Cramant remains one of Champagne's most celebrated villages, how the Côte de Sézanne continues to surprise even longtime Champagne lovers, and what happens when generations of family knowledge are paired with the curiosity to let individual vineyards tell their own stories.
We'll also have the rare opportunity to taste Hubert Soreau's Le Clos l'Abbé—an ultra-rare, single-parcel Champagne from just outside Épernay, where the Vallée de la Marne and the Côte des Blancs meet.
$85 per seat | includes a flight of 6 Champagnes + light bites from the Upwell kitchen team
Pouring:
‘Aux Origines’ Brut
‘Ora Alba’ Grand Cru Brut
‘Silexus Sezannensis’ Brut
‘Les Longues Verges’ Grand Cru Brut
‘Pur Cramant’ Grand Cru Lieu-Dit Extra-Brut
**Soreau ‘Le Clos l’Abbé’ Brut Nature
All ticket holders will receive 10% off 6+ bottles of Champagne J. Vignier or Soreau, purchased or pre-ordered during the event.
