A new chapter is being written in the history of the great wines of Champagne. Champagne Barons de Rothschild is celebrating twenty years of commitment and investment in excellence. As it inaugurated its new winery at Vertus on 25 June, adjoining the Clos acquired by the Rothschild family in 2013, the House also revealed its first parcel-based cuvée, produced exclusively from this 52-acre monopoly.
The rebirth of a historic Clos and an unprecedented new winery
Following the inauguration in 2024 of its production site at Oger - an eco-responsible building semi-buried in the chalk - the House, which produces around 600,000 bottles each year, is unveiling a spectacular new site that concentrates all the House's winemaking activities, from must reception to bottling.
For more than ten years, the Rothschild family has been restoring the integrity and unity of the original Clos, making the bold choice to breathe new life into the old building - the first stone of which was laid in 1874 - the archetypal heritage of a 19th-century Champagne House, with its vaulted cellars spanning several levels and its two raised levels housing the cellar in particular.
In 2025, following major works, the vaulted cellars were restored and the barrel cellar returned to its original function. Beneath the ancestral roof structure, the state-of-the-art vat room offers a breathtaking view over the vineyard.
A delve into the land registry archives dating back to the Napoleonic era has restored the estate to its former glory and given it its original name: Le Grand Clos.
‘Le Grand Clos 2019’ marks the House's first parcel-based cuvée
Le Grand Clos is first and foremost the name of a place, a place steeped in history whose walls were built over 200 years ago in the heart of the Premier Cru of Vertus and the famous Côte des Blancs. On the outskirts of the medieval village, this single plot of land is now home to a few precious acres of vines, first planted before the First World War. For the first time in the history of this locality, the House has chosen to vinify them separately.
The result is ‘Le Grand Clos’, a unique and precious wine. There are just under thirty Clos in Champagne, but very few cuvées are made entirely on the plot from which they come. Acquired by the Rothschild family in 2013, this Clos will now only deliver its precious bottles when they are deemed ready to leave the plot.
